Present Past
by XNinjaFoxX
Summary: What happens when an old friend of Ichigo's returns after four years of separation? Read on as the two realize that they certainly aren't children anymore, and their friendship shifts into something more. (Very fluffy! Some moments could be considered more 'mature' but there is nothing super explicit.)
1. When They Met

**10 years ago (Age 6)**

"Mommy, when are they done?"

Outside the doors of a small dojo, upon a bench made of wood as old as that which made up the dojo itself, sat a woman and her daughter. The pair would appear as normal as any other, if not for the girl's striking red hair, set aflame by the late spring sun rays. She stared up at her mother through yellow-green eyes, hopeful that the answer to her question was something along the lines of 'soon' and 'very soon'.

Her mother glanced up from her book and replied a little tiredly, as if she had already been asked that same question multiple times, "Your cousin won't be done for another ten minutes, Akane. Why don't you go play in the playground, while we wait?"

"There's no kids over there!" Her daughter complained.

"Then be patient," Her mother scolded before turning her attention back to her novel.

Akane huffed. She eyed the dojo doors impatiently, silently urging her cousin to walk out at that very moment, despite knowing he hardly ever finished class early. If anything, he was more likely to finish class _late._

To her surprise, the dojo doors did slide open, and the young girl took in an excited breath. Her face fell just as fast, however, when a young boy she did not recognize stepped out with his mom, rather than her cousin. Akane watched as the two ventured towards the playground. Her eyes were trained on the boy's spiky, orange hair. She had never seen someone with that hair color before. It piqued her curiosity - especially since her hair color was just as unusual. However, she thought it even stranger that, although he was covered in bruises, the boy had the broadest grin plastered across his face.

"Why don't you ask that boy if he will play with you?" Akane's mom offered.

Akane immediately perked up at the idea.

"OK!"

She leaped from her seat and rushed over at her chance to make a new friend.

"HI!"

The boy started at the sound of the girl's overly cheerful, and rather loud greeting. He shuffled behind his mother, shyly peeking around her leg to eye the red-head.

The girl tilted her head, wondering if perhaps the boy hadn't heard her.

"Uh, hellooo?"

"Say hi, Ichigo," His mother softly prompted.

The boy managed to mumble out a timid, "H-Hello."

"I'm Akane!"

"Um...I'm Ichigo."

"I like your hair!"

The boy's ears turned pink, and his gaze instantly fell to the ground.

"T-thanks. I...I like yours too."

"Do you want to play together?"

Ichigo glanced up at his mother. She gave him an encouraging nod.

He released his mother's hand and stepped forward.

"O-okay," He agreed.

"YAY! Let's go on the slide!"

Akane grabbed the boy's hand and rushed him up the aging metal steps.

 **2 Years Later (Age 8)**

"Quick, Ichi! The dark overlord PHANTOM MASMA will destroy the world if we do not defeat him!" Akane exclaimed raising her plastic katana.

Ichigo sprinted up the grassy hill to stand in front of his friend. He held us arm out in front of her, shielding the girl from some invisible force.

"Don't worry, Akane, I will protect you from him!" He declared.

Akane frowned.

"Ichigo! I don't need protected!" She argued, maneuvering around his arm so that she stood right beside her friend rather than behind him. "I'm going to help fight!"

Ichigo looked over at her, his face falling. "B-but, my dad says a real man protects the women around him!"

"Yeah well your dad's a weirdo!" She criticized in return.

"Hey!" Ichigo whirled around to face her, offended on behalf of his father.

"Ack! The dinosaurs!" Akane screeched, pointing at the empty field in front of them. She got into a fighting stance, holding her sword in both hands. "C'mon! They are closing in on us!"

"Oh! Right!" Ichigo moved into the same stance, bravely wielding his own matching katana. "You won't win today! Phan..phanto..."

"Phantom-masma," Akane whispered.

"PHANTOM MASMA!" Ichigo shouted. Then muttered, "Next time, I'M picking the bad guys name."

 **1 Year Later (Age 9)**

"Ichigo?"

Akane peeked into the darkened room. A streak of light spilled through the crack in the doorway, illuminating Ichigo's small frame. He was sitting at the back of the room, his head in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

The young girl gingerly made her way over to her friend.

"Ichi, are you ok?" She asked softly. Her own cheeks were stained with dried tears.

Ichigo choked on his sobs, and shook his head, unable to speak - though the answer was clear. He was not ok. He was far from it.

Akane smoothed out the skirt of her black dress and sat down beside him. Her voice was nearly a whisper.

"Your dad is looking for you Ichigo. Everyone's almost gone."

Ichigo still didn't respond. Akane swallowed hard, unsure of what else to say. All she could think to do was wrap her arms around her friend and pull him in for a hug. Almost instantly, he threw his arms around her in return, gripping the back of her dress as he continued to bawl.

"She's gone," He sniffled, "I-I couldn't protect her...Dad said I had to protect her! I didn't do it...I couldn't."

Akane felt fresh tears start to stream down her cheeks.

"It's gonna be okay, Ichi. It's gonna be okay."

 **6 years Later (Age 12)**

"What!?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"I'm moving to America," Akane repeated despondently.

It was an incredibly hot summer's day. Not a single cloud hung in the sky. Both Akane and Ichigo were spending a day at the park when Akane had delivered some rather shocking news. The two friends sat under a big oak tree, sheltered from the sun's sweltering rays.

"You can't be serious," Ichigo denied, shaking his head profusely, "Tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was," Akane answered softly, "I told them I didn't want to but...My dad says he has a new job now, so we have to move."

"No way..." He breathed.

He couldn't believe it. He and Akane had been friends for like...forever! She was the closest friend he had. He never thought that there might come a time when he wouldn't get to be with her as often as he was. Realizing that there would be no more seeing her after karate class, no more pretending they were ninjas in the park, no more climbing trees, no more summer picnics together...it was a lot to take all at once.

"We are leaving a couple days from now," She stated.

Her expression was vacant and her tone was even, but Ichigo knew better. He saw how tightly balled her fists were and how stiffly she sat. He heard the shaky exhales, and noticed her blinking back tears. Ichigo had known Akane too long to not know when she was about to cry.

"Will you ever...come back?" He asked.

"I don't know," She bit her lip. "I don't think so."

A car horn honked nearby. The two looked up and saw Akane's mom, sitting in her red Chevy, motioning for her daughter to hurry over.

Akane rose to her feet. "Shoot, I have to go."

"Already!?" Ichigo stumbled after her.

In the same moment he heard his father, calling his name from the park entrance.

He gritted his teeth. "Argh, I gotta go too."

"I'll ask my mom if we can play together tomorrow," Akane offered, sounding a little hopeful. She gave a weak smile.

"Right after karate come over and we'll watch the new Power Rangers episode!" Ichigo responded, forcing a smile as well.

Akane suddenly threw her arms around her friend, pulling him into a tight hug. He hugged her back. Akane's mom honked her horn again, breaking the two apart.

"Well, I'll see you later, Ichi." Akane turned to leave.

"W-wait!" Ichigo stopped her, suddenly remembering something. He reached into his pockets and pulled out two little key chains. He handed one to her. "Here."

"What is it?" Akane asked, turning the item in her hands.

It was Yang, only instead of the black dot on the end it had the Japanese symbol for her name in black.

"I almost forgot to give it to you. I was going to give it to you as a gift since I missed your birthday. I have my name on mine." He pulled out his Yin key chain with the symbols for Ichigo on it. "It took forever to convince my dad to get them. I had to do like...a hundred chores! But, it was worth it. Look! They attach!" Ichigo held his up to Akane's and the two clicked together.

"Ichigo..." Akane smiled up at her friend, for real this time, tears brimming her eyes, "This is the nicest thing you've ever given me."

Ichigo felt his cheeks grow a bit warm.

"W-well I wanted to give you something you would really like," He explained, looking down bashfully.

Akane's mother honked the car horn a third time.

"Ah, I've really gotta go!" Akane disconnected her keychain from his and gave him another quick hug, "I'll see you tomorrow! Thank you so much Ichigo!"

She rushed to the car still yelling goodbyes as she left.

"I promise to always treasure this!" She called out from the car, waving the key chain in the air.

"Okay!" Ichigo called back, waving until he saw the car disappear down the next street.

* * *

Ichigo yanked on his dad's arm. "Hurry up dad! We gotta go!"

He was eager to leave the dojo today. The new Power Rangers episode would be on in half an hour, and he had to spend as much time as he could with Akane before she left for America.

"Ichigo, I'm talking to Mr. Karane, don't be rude," Mr. Kurosaki responded sternly.

Mr. Karane, chuckled, "Ha ha, what's the rush, kiddo?"

"I'm hanging out with my friend, Akane today," Ichigo responded quickly, then continued to press his father, "C'mon dad!"

Mr. Kurosaki scolded his son, "Don't worry the Ishii's don't leave till friday!"

"Wait a second, you don't mean Haru Ishii's family, do you?" Mr. Karane suddenly asked.

Mr. Kurosaki gave the man a confused look, "Yes, actually. Why?"

"Their nephew takes karate with my son. Oh, he was so upset when they heard they were moving all the way to America! But, I just heard from my son that plans changed so they had to leave early. They flew out this morning."

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock and he stopped tugging on his father's arm. His heart seemed to drop down to his stomach.

"Akane...already left?"

 **Now (Age 16)**

"ICHIGO!"

Ichigo almost lost his balance when he felt something heavy leap onto his back.

"Dammit Keigo get off of me!" Ichigo protested angrily.

"Aw, come on Ichigo we're friends aren't we?" Keigo asked pouting.

"No."

"WHAT?! Ichigo, you're so mean!" Keigo declared with an exaggerated gasp, falling off of his friend's back.

"Stop being so over dramatic you idiot," Ichigo criticized as took his seat at his desk.

"You two are as boisterous as ever."

Ichigo turned and saw his other, less obnoxious friend Mizuiro walking over.

"Hey, Mizuiro."

"Morning Ichigo," Mizuiro bowed and then looked around the room, "Where's Rukia today? Usually she arrives with you."

"Hm? Oh, she said she had something important to do today," He answered simply.

"Really? How do you know?"

Ichigo froze, realizing he had spoken without thinking.

"Uh...she told me yesterday after school," He quickly covered.

In truth she had told him that morning - mentioning something about meeting with Urahara - and then proceeded to jump out his window as usual. But, no one knew she was living with him so he had to be careful what he said.

"Oh ok then," Mizuiro nodded, oblivious to Ichigo's little lie.

He then turned around to take his usual seat, but instead collided with a rather stocky figure who had just entered the classroom.

"Ow!"

"Oh...sorry," Chad apologized, though his voice held its usual monotonous tone.

"You don't sound very sorry," Mizuiro sighed rubbing his forehead.

"Hey, do know what this is?" Chad asked, ignoring Mizuiro's comment. He held up a small key-chain.

"Looks like Yin," Keigo offered, holding his eye closer to the item than necessary.

"No shit, smart one," Ichigo answered irritably.

"Ichigo...so cruel," Keigo sobbed.

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Does anyone know who it belongs to?" Chad asked.

Ichigo snatched the key chain from Chad's hand. "Yeah, it's mine."

"Wow Ichigo, I didn't know you liked that stuff," Mizuiro commented.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well you seem the least likely person to be carrying around trinkets like that."

"Trinkets like _what_? What are you talking about?"

"OH NO! ICHIGO!" Keigo gasped with horror, "OUR ICHIGO? Carrying around KEY CHAINS? Next you'll be carrying around cell phone charms! Or worse! Collecting cute stuffed animals!"

"Shut up you dumbass, I am not gonna start collecting stuffed animals, OR cell phone charms."

"I don't know...I think I remember seeing some stuffed animals on your floor last time I came over," Mizuiro noted aloud.

Ichigo's cheeks flushed. "Th-Those were my sisters!"

"I don't think there is anything wrong with a guy having stuffed animals," A voice stated from behind.

The quartet turned around to see who spoke.

Ichigo's expression went from annoyed to shocked when his eyes landed on a girl with familiar, striking red hair.


	2. Forgotten Friendship?

"Sorry for interrupting, but I couldn't help but overhear you guys." The girl smiled apologetically.

Keigo was the first to respond, his face lighting up upon noticing the girl's different, though undeniably pretty features.

"Oh! It's no problem at all!" He insisted, "And who might you be?"

"I'm Akane Ishii, I just transferred here," She introduced herself with a polite bow.

Ichigo was too stunned to speak.

He couldn't disagree that she looked just like... _her._ That long crimson hair, those opulent green eyes. Sure she had matured physically by, well, quite a bit _,_ but those standout features of hers were far from commonplace. Who else could it be?

Keigo slid up next to the girl. "Nice to meet you, I'm Keigo Asano. You can call me anything you like though."

He winked. Ichigo was too lost in his thoughts to scold his friend for his obnoxious flirting.

Mizuiro held the girl's hand in both of his and gave a kind smile, "I'm Mizuiro Kojima, it's a pleasure."

Akane blushed a bit at the action, "Oh! Um, likewise!"

Chad introduced himself as well, "I'm Chad."

"Nice to meet you, Chad," Akane smiled up at the giant of a man.

She then turned to Ichigo, still smiling politely, "And you are...?"

Ichigo hesitated. Surely if it's her she would remember him...Wouldn't she?

"Ichigo Kurosaki," He said coolly, trying to maintain his usual composure.

"It's nice to meet you," She bowed again.

Suddenly the bell rang, cutting into the group's introductions.

As everyone took their seats and the teacher began the lesson, Ichigo couldn't tear his focus from the curious new student. He kept switching between convincing himself it was her and convincing himself it wasn't. She looked the same sure...and had the same name...and was the right age. Who was he kidding, how could it _not_ be her?

He stared intently at her back, as if the answer would be scrawled across her white blouse. At one point she glanced over and caught him staring. She passed him a nervous smile. Ichigo quickly looked away, embarrassed that she had noticed.

* * *

During lunch, Ichigo headed to the rooftop. His friends had already gathered in their typical eating spot, including Uryu.

"Hey Uryu, where were you during class?" Ichigo inquired, taking the seat opposite to him.

Uryu spoke flatly, "I had a physical."

"Exciting," Ichigo muttered sarcastically and opened his lunch.

"A shame, Uryu, you missed out on meeting the new _transfer student_ ," Keigo said wiggling his eyebrows.

"He's talking about Akane Ishii," Mizuiro explained, "For a young girl she is quite pretty."

"She's the same age as you," Ichigo stated, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, but alas I only date mature women," Mizuiro said, as if that were a heart-breaking discovery.

"Whatever, gramps," Ichigo scoffed, shaking his head.

"You don't think Akane is cute Ichigo?" Keigo asked surprised.

"I hardly know her," Ichigo lied blatantly.

"What about you Chad?" Mizuiro asked.

Everyone was silent.

...

...

...

"She is very small," He finally stated, and took a bite of his food.

Mizuiro sighed, "Not exactly the reply I was anticipating."

While the others joked about Chad's blunt nature, Ichigo's thoughts wandered back to Akane.

It had been so long since he had last seen his childhood friend that, by now, he had accepted that he was never going to. When he was younger, he still had some hope that maybe she would come back to visit or - by some stroke of luck - move back to Japan. But, she never did.

He had no way of contacting her either. He couldn't call her since she lived in a whole different country, and he never learned her new address. So, eventually he came to the conclusion that this was just how it was meant to be. His childhood friend, the closest friend he had ever had was now just a memory. He would never see her again. In fact, he couldn't recall the last time she had crossed his mind.

And now, here was a girl who looked just like her with the same name and everything. But, he was too afraid to let himself believe it was her. He had spent so much time healing from the loss of such a dear friend when he was a kid. He couldn't bring himself to think for even a moment that it really was her, because _what if it wasn't_?

Ichigo let out a tired sigh, wondering why this had to be so complicated. After all, if it was her, wouldn't she have said something earlier?

"Something up, Ichigo?" Uryu asked.

"Huh? Oh...nah, just thinking."

"You sure, man? You've been weird ever since first period," Keigo commented

"What? No I haven't," Ichigo replied defensively.

"Actually, you kind of have," Mizuiro interjected.

Ichigo was surprised his friends had taken notice of his distraction. His thoughts had been almost exclusively focused on Akane ever since first period. But, he refused to reveal this to his friends.

Ichigo shrugged casually. "Whatever. There's nothing up, I'm just tired is all." He then rose to his feet and stretched. "I'm gonna get a soda."

"Oh! Walking away from confrontation, I see!" Keigo accused half-jokingly.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and headed downstairs to the vending machines.

As he turned the corner at the bottom of the steps, he was surprised to see that striking head of red hair again. But, before Ichigo could question the irony of seeing her at that exact moment, he noticed something else as well.

Two boys were blocking her path from the vending machine. Two boys he knew were trouble. Although Akane was smiling, it was clear she didn't feel comfortable. Her back was up against the machine, as if she were trying to create some distance between herself and the boys, but ran out of room. She was clutching a juice box tightly to her chest, as if it were her only form of defense. She let out a laugh when one of the boys made a joke, but it was so obviously forced and woven with nervous energy.

"Hey, you're new here, aint'cha?" One of the boys asked, placing his hand against the machine.

"Y-yeah," Akane answered, eyeing the boy's hand which was now uncomfortably close to her face.

"Why don't you have lunch with us?" The other one suggested.

"I-I'm sorry, but I already agreed to eat with my friends," Akane replied quickly.

"Hey who needs them? We're way more fun!" He assured her.

"Yeah, c'mon ditch your friends! We'll show you around the school!" The first one said with a grin.

The two boys didn't _sound_ threatening, in fact their voices were quite welcoming and cheerful. However, their body language and insistence was sending warnings through Ichigo's head.

Once he figured out what was going on, Ichigo jumped into action.

He tapped one of the boys on the shoulder.

"Hey, leave the girl alone," He ordered, his tone much more threatening than he intended.

"Woah, chill man! We just wanna help her out," The guy who was blocking Akane's exit assured with a seemingly harmless grin, "We were gonna show her around the school."

"That isn't necessary, I already agreed to that," Ichigo confidently lied.

Akane's eyes widened in surprise. But both boys appeared rather irked by Ichigo's intrusion.

"Listen, buddy, we got this covered," The one muttered to Ichigo as if Akane wouldn't be able to hear, "Can't you see we're trying to...ya know.." He winked.

"Leave. The girl. Alone," Ichigo repeated, this time grabbing the boy's arm roughly, now sure of their true intentions.

"Hey! Let go of me!" The boy protested.

Something seemed to dawn on the other boy's face all the sudden. His confidence shattered, as he uneasily tugged on his friend's shirt. "H-Hey Daichi, maybe we should go."

"What?!"

He hissed in his friend's ear, "Th-that's Ichigo Kurosaki."

The Daichi's eyes widened. "Y-you mean..?"

His friend nodded.

The boy immediately began to sweat. "Ahaha! Uh, right! Well, no need to make a scene! We'll just hang out another time." He laughed nervously.

"Y-yeah, we'll get going!" The other guy announced, trying to pull his friend out of Ichigo's vice grip.

The orange haired student let go, and the two practically sprinted down the hall. Ichigo glared after them until they were out of his sight.

"Um, th-thank you," Akane's soft voice caught Ichigo's attention again.

"Don't worry about it," Ichigo answered reaching into his pocket for some money.

As he fed the vending machine his cash, he couldn't help but notice Akane shuffling side to side as if unsure if she should leave or stay.

"You need something?" He finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

The girl looked up, cheeks turned pink. "Ah! Well...uhmm it's just...you see..."

"Go on..." He prompted, leaning against the machine in wait.

"I...erm," The girl took in a deep breath and then, all at once, spat out, "Doyouknowmyname?

"What?"

She gulped, clearly flustered, and repeated, more slowly, "Do...do you know my name?"

Ichigo looked at her, still confused, and replied slowly, "Akane Ishii, right?"

"No...what I mean is..." She tried again.

Ichigo noticed she was fidgeting with some kind of bracelet on her wrist.

She took a sharp breath, clenched her fists, and said a little too loudly, "Do you remember me?!"

Ichigo stiffened.

"W-We used to play at the dojo!" She explained, "After classes we would go to the playground - our families became very close! I still remember your sisters. Yuzu and Karin, right? We would play every day in the summer - we even got matching plastic katanas! Mine was red, your's was orange. And-"

As she rambled on, Ichigo realized the bracelet Akane was playing with had a charm on it. It was Yang.

A wave of relief and joy washed over Ichigo. _It's her. It really is Akane._ A smile tugged at his lips.

He cut her off, "Akane. I remember."

She stopped listing off memories, her expression turning incredulous.

"Y-you do?!"

"Of course! I just..." Ichigo scratched the back of his neck, "I wasn't sure if you remembered me."

"I DO!" She shouted, and then covered her mouth realizing how loud that was, "I-I do," She repeated, softer this time.

Ichigo's smile broadened.. She didn't forget him. It really was her.

"I'm so happy you remember!" She celebrated and suddenly threw her arms around him.

"Oh, l-likewise," He stammered a bit surprised by the action.

Akane noticed his awkward reaction and quickly let go.

"Oops, sorry, was that too forward?" She apologized.

"N-no! I just wasn't expecting it," Ichigo answered.

"Ah, thank goodness," Akane let out a relieved sigh, "I was in America for so long I tend to forget that manners are different here in Japan. Actually, I was kind of too scared to approach you all day. You kept glaring at me during first period, I thought I had done something to offend you. Plus, I still wasn't a hundred percent sure it was you - though the hair should have been a dead giveaway."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise, then recalled that moment when she had caught him staring in class. His cheeks grew warm. Did he really seem that intimidating? He should work on that.

"S-sorry about that," He apologized guiltily.

Akane laughed, "It's alright."

Suddenly she took his hands in hers, again surprising Ichigo, but he did not mind it. He actually felt a bit happy that she was so comfortable with him despite how long it had been since they had last seen each other. It almost made it feel like they had never been separated.

"I'm just glad we've been reunited," Akane said, grinning from ear to ear.

Ichigo smiled in return. "Me too."


	3. Reunited

"Well here it is!" Ichigo announced making a wide, dramatic gesture toward his house.

"You still live here?" Akane asked, staring up at the building.

After their heartwarming reunion, Akane insisted on seeing the rest of Ichigo's family. So, the two agreed to walk home together after school. Somehow, Ichigo's home seemed much smaller than she remembered. Nonetheless, a nostalgic feeling washed over her as took in the familiar yellow slats and green roof which made up Kurosaki Clinic.

"Yeah, my dad never saw a reason to move," Ichigo answered, "Nor renovating, but I think that's more from laziness on his part."

"Ah, right, your father..." Akane mused.

Akane was always a bit confused by Ichigo and his father's relationship. She recalled one time when Ichigo's dad yelled at his son for falling down at the Dojo when they were still kids. At the time, Akane had been sitting on the side waiting for her cousin as usual. Mr. Kurosaki was going on and on about masculinity and other such nonsense. But, the instant Ichigo started crying, his dad's attitude completely shifted. Instead he started frantically apologizing for upsetting Ichigo, telling him he didn't mean it that way. The whole event was actually rather comical.

"Come on in, I'm sure they'll love to see you again," Ichigo said as he motioned Akane inside. An anxious feeling swept through her as she stepped over the threshold. She wondered how much everyone had changed.

"I'm ho-," Ichigo had hardly finished his sentence when a man with black spikey hair appeared out of nowhere, swinging his foot towards Ichigo's head. Fortunately, Ichigo caught it with ease. In return, he kicked the man so hard he flew across the room.

"DAD, WHAT THE HELL!?" Ichigo bellowed, his cheery disposition from before melting away to reveal an annoyed scowl.

"A man must always be prepared!" Mr. Kurosaki exclaimed proudly, spryly jumping to his feet. He aimed a right hook for Ichigo's temple, but again, his son had no problem deflecting it. The two fell into an all out brawl at that point, flying across the room, knocking into walls and furniture.

Akane was frozen in the doorway at a complete loss of words.

"Geez, you two. You're gonna destroy the whole house if you don't stop," A young, 12-year-old girl remarked exasperatedly. Her short, light brown hair was clipped to one side. Over her light pink dress was a yellow apron.

"Let 'em be, if one of them gets hurt then that's their own fault," Another girl of the same age replied. She rolled her grey eyes at the two men fighting.

"Erm," Akane tried to speak, but the ongoing battle between Ichigo and Mr. Kurosaki had stalled all her thought processes.

The two girls looked over at Akane surprised, as if they just noticed her.

"H-Hey! Who are you?" The black haired girl asked, pointing her fork at the stranger.

"Oh! Are you a friend of Ichigo's?" The other asked hopefully.

Akane just nodded.

"ICHIGO!" The first girl shouted to the two men who were now wrestling each other on the ground, "Introduce us to your friend!"

"Friend?" Ichigo's dad's ears perked up. He looked over at Akane and his face lit up immediately.

"Ohhh! Well it's a pleasure to meet one of Ichigo's friends!" He practically skipped over to the girl. "I'm Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father. What's your na-?" Ichigo did a impressively fast leg sweep, knocking the man to the ground.

"Don't weird her out," Ichigo ordered harshly. He stepped over his father's body and nudged the red-haired girl. "Come on. Dinner's ready, I think."

"R-right," Akane stammered and followed behind her friend, still at an utter loss for words.

"Yuzu, Karin, this is Akane Ishii," Ichigo announced as he sat down at the table.

"Hello! Sorry if I am intruding," Akane said, politely bowing, before taking a seat as well.

"Oh not at all! Ichigo hardly ever introduces his friends!" Yuzu exclaimed, clearly happy.

"Akane Ishii," Karin mused, "That name sounds familiar."

"Well, you may not remember me well but, I used to play with Ichigo when we were kids," Akane said.

"Akane?" Ichigo's dad popped up out of seemingly nowhere, "As in, Ichigo's childhood friend who moved to America!?"

Akane nodded with a smile.

Mr. Kurosaki flew across the room, and attacked her with a hug.

"AKANE! MY BEAUTIFUL CHILD! OH HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN~!"

Ichigo kicked him off her. "She's not _your_ child."

Akane laughed, "It's good to see you again, Mr. Kurosaki."

"Oh! I think I remember you!" Karin realized, snapping her fingers, "I can't believe I almost forgot. I always thought your hair was so cool!"

Akane's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Oh! Thank you! Wow, you two are so much older now, I can hardly believe how much you've grown."

"They're still a couple of brats though," Ichigo muttered.

"Hey I heard that!" Karin shot back.

After dinner, Ichigo showed Akane around the house.

"It's not much," He said, shrugging as they stopped in the upper hallway, "Like I said, nothing's really changed since you were last here."

Akane took in her surroundings. Despite it being over four years since she had last been in these halls, she had never forgotten what it looked like. The sleek, brown hardwood floors, the narrow spacing between rooms, the dull yellow paint; for a moment, it felt as if she had stepped back into the past. Ichigo was right, nothing had changed.

Her eyes landed on the door to her left.

"This is your room, isn't it?" She asked. She recognized the single banner which hung from from the door, which just had the number '15' on it.

"Yeah."

Akane's eyes glinted mischievously. "Well, let's see if it really hasn't changed!" She placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Wait! Akane-!" Ichigo began to protest. But, Akane had already flung the door open and stepped inside.

"You're not very organized," She commented as she stepped over a pile of clothes.

Ichigo suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. By now he should have been used to people just coming in unannounced, but, somehow, with Akane it was a little more embarrassing. Especially since, although he usually kept it rather tidy, he hadn't cleaned up in a while.

"Yeah well-," He searched for some way to defend the clutter, but Akane already had her focus elsewhere.

"Aw!" She squealed delightfully, "What a cute stuffed lion!"

 _Aw crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!_ Ichigo panicked as she looked at the lion adoringly.

"He's so soft! I just wanna snuggle with him!" She picked him up and hugged him to her chest tightly.

Ichigo swore he saw the stuffed animal's eyes glint.

"What's his name?" She asked.

"Er, Kon," Ichigo answered, glaring at the stuffed lion.

"Aha! So Keigo was right! You do collect stuffed animals," She teased.

"N-no I don't!" Ichigo defended.

"Then how come you gave it a name?" She smirked.

"It's not mine! It's - er - Yuzu's! It must've ended up in here somehow while I was at school," He quickly tried to cover up.

"Yeah, okay, suuure," Akane agreed, clearly not buying it.

Before Ichigo could raise another protest to convince her he wasn't lying, an odd beeping sound interrupted.

"What's that?" Akane asked, looking around in confusion.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Ichigo waved his hands dismissively, "Probably my alarm clock going off!"

"It sounds like it's coming from the closet," Akane said absentmindedly as she put Kon on Ichigo's desk. She walked over to the closet but Ichigo swiftly blocked her way.

"No, I don't think that's it," Ichigo insisted, leaning against the closet door.

"What are you hiding, Ichigo?" Akane asked, her expression turning suspicious.

"Hiding? Why would I be hiding anything?" Sweat began forming at the back of Ichigo's neck. _Shut up stupid sound! Shut up!_

The beeping came to a halt.

Akane looked around, still trying to find the source. However, upon realizing it was not coming back, she gave up. Ichigo released a soft sigh. But, he was not ignorant of the suspicion in his friend's eyes as she retreated.

The girl scanned the room again and her eyes widened when they landed on the clock by Ichigo's bed.

"Shoot, it's 6 o' clock! I need to go home, my parents are gonna kill me!" Akane exclaimed and rushed out of the room.

Ichigo hurriedly followed her downstairs, relieved for an excuse not to talk about the beeping of what he could only assume was Rukia's phone alert.

Akane grabbed her bag and then shared short goodbyes with Ichigo and his family. Before leaving she told Ichigo with an impish smile, "Next time I _will_ find out what you are hiding, Kurosaki."

He returned it with an uneasy smile, dreading that soon-to-be moment, and said a last goodbye before she she shut the door behind her.

"She's cute," Yuzu noted after the door closed, looking up at Ichigo.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, unsure how to respond to that, "Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?" Karin repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Ichigo ignored the comment and started heading up the steps, "I'm gonna do my homework," He announced.

Once he was gone, Yuzu and Karin exchanged looks, as if they knew something their brother did not.

Ichigo trudged upstairs, exhausted from the eventful day. He wondered how Akane could be so energetic. Though, thinking back to when they were kids, she had always been a bubbly girl. She had also been quite stubborn, which clearly was another trait she still held onto.

The orange-haired teen collapsed on his bed the same time his closet door slid open. Rukia jumped out with a frown

"Who was that? I didn't get to see their face."

Now realizing how exhausted he was, Ichigo didn't feel any urge to explain the whole story. So, with a yawn he just answered, "Akane. Transfer student. Childhood friend."

When Rukia's eyes widened in surprise he just tiredly murmured, "I'll explain some other time."

"I see. Well, anyway we've got to go anyway," Rukia said checking her phone again, "There's a Hollow alert at the park."

"Right now?" Ichigo complained.

"Yes now!" Rukia urged.

He groaned, "Wonderful. And here I thought I would actually get some sleep tonight."


	4. Roses Are Red

The next day, Ichigo was finding it immensely difficult to perform even the simplest task of keeping his eyes open. The Hollows had come in an endless wave last night, forcing him to fight one after the next. He didn't get a wink of sleep.

"You okay, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, noticing the heavy shadows under his eyes as they walked to lunch together.

"Yeah fine," Ichigo lied through a long yawn.

Rukia raised an eyebrow knowingly. But, before she could comment, Orihime came running over.

"Ichigo!" Orihime cheered with her lunch bag in hand and Tatsuki at her side. Her sunny disposition was a clear contrast to Ichigo's sleepy and cheerless mood.

"'Sup" Ichigo greeted lazily.

"Hi, Rukia!"

"Hi, Orihime. What's up?"

"Same old, same old!" Orihime brightly replied.

"You look tired," Tatsuki bluntly stated, passing her criticizing gaze over Ichigo.

"Thanks," He answered sarcastically.

"Also, where were you yesterday?" Tatsuki questioned, turning to Rukia, "You missed a test in history."

"Oh uhmm..." Rukia hesitated.

"Didn't you say you had to visit your sick grandmother or something?" Ichigo offered.

"Right! M-my sick grandmother!" Rukia quickly restated, relieved for the excuse.

In truth, she had been at the soul society, visiting her brother. She looked up at Ichigo, silently thanking him for the excuse. He passed her a small smile in return.

"Oh! Well then come eat with us and you can tells us all about her!" Orihime said, grabbing Rukia's hand.

"Erm, O-of course!" Rukia agreed. But, Orihime was already dragging her away, blabbering about her own grandmother.

Ichigo let out another exaggerated yawn before he headed up to the rooftop for lunch.

"I-chi-go!" Keigo sung as the orange-haired student entered the scene.

"Morning!" Akane sang along, popping her head out from beside Keigo.

"Ah morning!" Ichigo replied only to Akane, doing his best to appear awake and alert.

He forced his way in between his two friends and sat down.

"Hey rude!" Keigo disputed.

Ichigo pretended he didn't hear him and began to eat his lunch.

"You seem tired," Akane commented, noticing how sluggish his movements were.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night" He confirmed.

"Why don't you nap here?"

"No, no I should be okay," He assured, and tried to hold back another yawn, but failing to do so.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine. Don't worry."

* * *

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open. As his bleary vision cleared, he tried to make sense of his surroundings, instantly aware that he was not in his bedroom. He took in the dull white walls and chalkboard at the front of the room, and realized that he was still in his math class. The classroom was completely empty. He raised his eyes to the wall clock. 4:30pm?! He shot out of his uncomfortable desk seat. School was over!

He must have fallen asleep during his last class period. Rukia had mentioned visiting Urahara again, so she had already left without him no doubt, and no one else he knew shared last period with him. Even so, he was surprised that even the clean up crew hadn't woken him up. He must have really been out - unless, they were part of that group of students who were still convinced he was some sort of delinquent. In which case, they probably didn't bother to go near him.

Gathering his bag and books together he raced to his shoe locker, eager to get home.

As he was sprinting down the hall, however, a sound caught his ear. It was faint, but loud enough to slow him down.

Was that someone... _crying?_

 _It's none of my business, probably just some hormonal girl,_ Ichigo thought, forcing the thought away. But, as he continued down the hall to the main entrance he realized he was only getting closer to it. Soon enough he was standing outside the door it sound was coming from.

He paused at the door. _Maybe I shouldn't..._

But, his curiosity got the better of him and he slid the door open - just a crack - to see who was inside.

The whole room was empty except for one occupied seat at the back of the classroom. In it was a girl who had her head in her arms, sobbing. If it was anyone else Ichigo probably would've turned around and left.

But, he could not ignore that striking red hair.

"Akane?" He called out softly, stepping inside the room.

The girl lifted her head, startled. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was sticking to her tear-stained cheeks. Ichigo had to admit it was not a pretty sight. But, all that ran through his mind was the question as to what could make Akane - a girl whose cheery nature could only be matched by Orihime - cry.

"Oh...it's you," She remarked and sniffled.

She started wiping away her tears as the boy cautiously picked his way over to her. He set one of the surrounding chairs in front of her desk and sat down.

"What's wrong?" He asked, leaning forward, his expression laced with concern.

"Nothing," She mumbled, still wiping her face and smudging mascara and eyeliner into dark clouds around her eyes.

"C'mon, you can tell me. It's clear something's upset you," He urged.

Akane refused to look straight at him. Instead she kept her focus on the wall to her right, as she struggled to explain.

"It's dumb. I just...I'm overreacting. It's really nothing. I-"

"Akane," Ichigo tried to keep his tone level, " _Please_ just tell me."

The girl bit her lip to try and stop it from trembling, and held her arms close to her chest, either hand gripping the opposite elbow. Something about this moment - the two of them together alone, one with tears in their eyes, while the other tried their hardest to comfort them - it felt all too familiar to both of them.

"It's only the second day..." She began quietly, "I thought maybe it would happen, but not the second day..." She sniffed again.

" _What_ happened today, Akane?"

She let out a shaky breath.

"I was...I was just walking to my locker when a group of girls passed me," She began, "I overheard the one girl say something, and I realized it was about me. The others laughed..."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

"I know it's silly, I really shouldn't have let something like that get to me," Akane rambled on, "But _wha_ t they said and _how_ they said it. And the one girl, she just passed me this...this _look_. As if I were unsightly or...disgusting, or..." She shook her head, forcing back more tears.

"Who were they?" Ichigo demanded, his concern quickly morphing into anger.

"I don't know their names," She replied.

"You point them out to me. I swear I'll-" He started, his tone rising.

"No!" She cut in, "Please don't, Ichigo."

"But-!"

"Ichigo, I appreciate that you care," She explained, "I really do. And, I already owe you for what you did the other day at the vending machine. But, I don't want you to get in trouble over something so fickle."

"Fickle?! Bullying is not a fickle issue!" He replied forcefully, standing up as if he was about to leave and go search for the bullies himself.

Akane grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him.

"Ichigo, please don't," She insisted, "It was just a few words. I don't want you to get in trouble over this."

He clenched his fists defiantly. Several times he opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it when he couldn't seem to form a sentence which wasn't just a list of swears. He exhaled a long breath, trying to cool himself down and not wanting to make Akane any more upset.

"If...if that's what you want..." He finally conceded once his temper lowered.

 _But if I find out who hurt her, I swear to God..._

Akane relaxed a bit and let go of his arm. Her mouth twitched into a small, appreciative smile.

"Thank you."

"What did they make fun of about you anyway?" He asked, folding his arms as he went through possible revenge plots in his mind.

Akane eyes fell back to the table in front of her.

"My hair," she mumbled.

Ichigo frowned. He shouldn't be surprised. It was only a matter of time before someone ganged up on her like they did with him in the past. He understood how Akane felt, him having the same problem when he was in middle school - heck he still sometimes dealt with it. But, in his case, people just assumed he was a delinquent, and now that he had proven his strength, few bothered him like they did back then. Whereas for Akane, it was another story entirely. She was the new kid, and that made her an easy target.

"They didn't even say much, honestly," She added picking at her nails to keep her mind off of anything else, "But...it got to me anyway. It suppose it just made me remember all the other times I heard similar things in middle school. Both here and in America."

"Middle school?" Ichigo repeated surprised. He hadn't realized this was a common occurrence for her. When they were younger she never talked about being bullied, and they didn't go to the same school so how could he have known?

She nodded, "Yeah, it was pretty bad then too. Although, in America they made fun of me for more than just my hair. When that girl earlier said what she did I just...I don't know it just kinda triggered memories of all those other times and I...I just couldn't take it, I guess."

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she struggled to keep a bold face, and she immediately wiped them away.

Ichigo sat down and leaned over the table between them again. She was still avoiding his gaze.

"Akane, why didn't you ever tell me about any of this?"

"I don't know," She shrugged, "I was stupid in middle school, I didn't want you to worry. Even though you always talked about protecting me and everything," She let out a breathy laugh upon recalling that, "Plus, I guess I was just...embarrassed by it."

Ichigo bit his lip, and thought hard about how to respond. He felt guilty and frustrated. Guilty for never knowing about what she was going through back then, and frustrated that she hadn't trusted him enough to tell him about it. It made him question for a moment whether they were ever as close as he had thought they were back then.

But, that was a silly thought, right? She was his closest friend. His best friend. So what if he didn't know everything about her? To Ichigo that was all the more reason to be here for her now.

"Listen," He stated, finally deciding on what to say, "You are one of my dearest friends, Akane. I'll do whatever is necessary to make sure I'm there for you when you need it. And, I would never do or say anything to hurt you. Don't be afraid to tell me things."

Akane finally glanced up at Ichigo. His soft brown eyes were only on her. The expression on his face and the tone of his voice were wholly serious. Akane was a little surprised to see this side of Ichigo. He was so mature now. So confident in himself. He was so different now. But, she could still se that fierce protectiveness of his which she remembered from the past.

"Can I ask you something?" Akane suddenly asked.

"Of course." Ichigo smiled.

"Well..." She started slowly, "What does the color of my hair remind you of?"

Ichigo cocked his head in confusion. "Why?"

"The girl who insulted me she...she said my hair was gross. That it looked like blood."

Ichigo felt a twinge of anger as he recalled the reason behind Akane's breakdown. Forcing back the irritation rising at that reminder, he thought of a proper answer to Akane's question. Akane anxiously waited for his response.

"Roses," He said at last.

Akane's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Ro-roses?"

"Yes. Roses are red, and to me, you are like a beautiful rose," Ichigo explained.

Akane's face quickly flushed red, and Ichigo's did as well upon realizing that he actually just said that.

"Uhm, I mean... erm..." He stammered, trying to figure out what to add to throw off his increasing embarrassment.

The red-haired girl laughed as Ichigo began to grow even more flustered.

"Hahaha, you're so sweet Ichigo," She said, and at last her true smile returned, "Thank you."

"Oh God, please don't tell anyone I said something as dumb as that," He groaned, burying his beet red face in his hands.

"Don't worry I won't," She assured him, "If you don't tell anyone I was crying alone in a classroom, I won't tell anyone about your secret ability to make cliche one-liners."

"Deal," He agreed, joining her in laughter.


	5. Sunset

Ichigo was glad things ended on a light note when he left Akane yesterday. But, he still couldn't believe he actually said something as corny as 'you remind me of a beautiful rose' to her. His face heated up every time he recalled it.

"Where have you been?" Rukia asked as Ichigo entered his room that evening.

"Oh, I fell asleep during last period. I guess the people on clean up duty weren't able to wake me up," Ichigo answered.

"Well, you do sleep like a rock," Rukia agreed.

Ichigo ignored her comment as he began to start his homework for the night.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask but who exactly is that Akane girl?" Rukia prompted.

"Just a childhood friend," Ichigo said casually as he pulled out his notes.

"Right, you mentioned that before," She answered, her eyebrow furrowed.

"A childhood friend with a very nice figure," Kon suddenly cut in. Ichigo turned to see him sitting on his bed with a smirk.

"Shut up you, I'm still thinking of a good punishment for that," Ichigo glared at the little stuffed lion recalling the moment when Akane was pressing him very closely to her chest.

"Hey don't blame me for the ladies thinking i'm so irrisitable," Kon boasted.

Ichigo mumbled some profanity under his breath.

"If you ask me, she seems like much more than just some 'childhood friend'," Ririn commented, stepping out of the closet with a mischievous grin.

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.

"Don't act like you haven't noticed. Did you see the way they talked? There's bound to be some chemistry there!" Ririn explained excitedly, hearts in her eyes.

Ichigo felt his face get warm, and quickly hid it behind his textbook.

"Pft, please, as if," He scoffed.

"Chemistry?" Rukia made a confused face.

"Ohhh, Rukia, so naive," Ririn sighed.

* * *

"GOOD MORNING ICH-I-GOOO!" Ichigo woke up to the the sound of his dad throwing the door open and running towards him, arms outstretched.

Ichigo raised his hand and caught his dad's face in his hand.

"Ugh, you are so annoying," He groaned.

"Ah ha! Yes! Never let your guard down, even while asleep! Good!" His father's muffled voice approved, giving his son a thumbs up.

"Well it's pretty easy to stop someone as obnoxiously loud and clumsy as you," Ichigo stated agitated.

"ICHIGO!" Yuzu's voice interrupted the two, "Akane's here!"

Ichigo pushed his dad to the floor and went downstairs, still in his t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Akane?" He asked coming down the steps.

She was sitting in front of the TV in her school uniform with Yuzu next to her. She looked up and beamed, "Oh, hi Ichigo! I figured we could walk to school together since your house isn't too far from mine."

Ichigo sighed in relief. _Seems after yesterday she's returned to her normal self. Thank goodness_ _._

"Yeah, okay, just let me get ready real quick," He ran back upstairs to change.

Ichigo knocked on the door of his closet. Rukia came out only a few moments later in her uniform,"Ready to go?" She asked.

"Akane's here, me and her are gonna walk to school together," He said pulling out his own school clothes.

Was it just him, or did Rukia look irritated all the sudden?

He blinked and Rukia's face turned back to normal. She nodded, "That's fine. I'll go a few minutes ahead then."

She walked over to the window and jumped out without another word.

Ichigo quickly got dressed and headed downstairs, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Akane was waiting at the bottom of the steps her bag in both hands.

"Alright, let's go," Ichigo said jerking his head toward the door.

"Don't forget, Ichigo, when you get back we have a fight to finish," Ichigo's dad said giving the two a thumbs up and a big grin.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Come on let's go before he decides we need to finish it now," he muttered.

Akane chuckled, and the two headed out after saying a couple quick goodbyes to the others.

* * *

After classes Ichigo and Akane began to head up to the roof for lunch.

Right before they reached the door upstairs a group of girls, which included Orihime and Tatsuki, came running up to the two.

"Hi, Ichigo!~" Orihime sang.

"Hey Orihime, what's up?" He asked, looking curiously at the gaggle of girls surrounding her.

"Oh! Well we were wondering if we could borrow Akane today! You don't mind do you?" Orihime asked the two.

"Uh-," They both began.

"GREAT! Let's go Akane!" Orihime grabbed Akane's hand.

"Ah wait!" Akane began, but Orihime pulled her along with the group of girls following quickly behind, leaving a very confused Ichigo in their dust.

* * *

"So! Akane, how are you?" Orihime asked as they sat down in the grass.

"U-um, pretty good, I suppose," She answered awkwardly, confused as to why this girl had wanted to eat with her so badly. She glanced around and realized the surrounding group of girls were all staring at her intently. She faced the strange orange-haired girl who abducted her, "I'm sorry have we met?"

"Oh right! How silly of me! You can call me Orihime! And this is Tatsuki!" She said smiling and pointing at a girl with spiky, dark hair.

"Yo," Tatsuki waved.

"Ni-nice to meet you," Akane smiled in return, although she was still lost.

"So, Akane-," A blonde haired girl began.

"Are you dating Ichigo?" A girl with brown curly hair quickly cut in.

Akane's face turned bright red.

A quiet black-haired girl, who was drinking from a juice box, suddenly sputtered her drink out all over the grass.

"Rukia are you ok?" Orihime asked her, shocked by her reaction as much as Akane was.

"Y-y-yes! I'm fine! Fine! The juice...tasted odd for a moment there." The girl named Rukia said smiling and waving away Orihime.

The blonde girl glared at the curly haired brunette's bluntness from before.

"What? We were all wondering it," The girl who asked the question stated. Then she turned to face Akane again, "So? Are you?"

"Oh! Uhm," Akane looked down, her face still red, "N-no, we're just friends."

"Then, why do you hang around him so much?" Another girl asked. She had black hair and intense purple eyes.

"Well..we knew each other...when we were kids," Akane muttered hardly audible.

"Aw that's cute!" The black haired girl exclaimed.

Akane blush deepened, "T-thanks...I think?"

"Wow, I wonder what mini Ichigo was like," Orihime mused. She turned to Tatsuki, "Hey don't you remember what mini Ichigo looked like? I mean you took karate with him didn't you?"

Tatsuki tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Oh yeah!" She grinned, remembering, "Haha, he was a real weakling. Always cried at the dojo."

Akane looked up abruptly and stared at Tatsuki wide eyed, "You took karate with Ichigo?"

"Yeah! I was quite a few belts above him though," Tatsuki replied.

"Wow!" Akane said suddenly interested, "My cousin took karate at Ichigo's dojo too! That's how Ichigo and I met!"

"Cool! What was his name?" Tatsuki asked.

Before Akane could reply the bell rang.

All the girls quickly gathered their things, "Well it was nice chatting with you!" Orihime said running off.

Akane smiled in return, and then gathered her things as well.

* * *

"Ichigo! look what I have!" Keigo announced, shoving two colorful tickets in Ichigo's face.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, even though he honestly didn't really care.

"Tickets to Don Konoichi's new show!" Keigo said excitedly.

Ichigo sighed annoyed. That idiot guy who insisted on callling Ichigo his 'number 1 pupil' was the last person on earth Ichigo wanted to see right now,"I hope you don't plan on inviting me."

Keigo scoffed, "Psh! I already know YOU don't like it, but I was wondering if Akane would go with me!"

Ichigo didn't even blink, "No."

"Wh-what do you mean no?"

"I mean there is no way Akane would like that stupid crap," Ichigo stated, taking his shoes out of his locker.

"It's not stupid!" Keigo replied defensively.

Right on cue, Akane came walking over, and greeted the two cheerfully, "Hi Keigo! Hey Ichigo!"

"Oh h-," Keigo jumped in front of Ichigo, cutting him off.

"Akane! So I recently got these great tickets to this _amazing_ show!"

"Oh? What show?" Akane asked curiously.

"Don Konoichi's!" Keigo exclaimed.

"Oh, I see.."

"Would you want to come with me?" Keigo wiggled his eyebrows.

Akane smiled politely and tried not to let her disinterest seem too obvious, "I appreciate the offer, Keigo, but no thanks. I tried watching that show this morning with Yuzu, and I really don't think it's my thing."

Keigo's excitement dropped immediately,"Oh," was all he could say before dejectedly walking away, his shoulders slumped.

"I-I'm sorry, Keigo I didn't mean to upset you-!" Akane called after him.

"Don't worry," Ichigo cut in, "He'll be back to his usual annoying self tomorrow."

"I still feel a little bad...Hey do you mind if I walk home with you again?" Akane asked.

Ichigo looked over but before he could say a word Akane began waving her hands wildly,"I mean if you have someone else you would rather walk with that's fine!" Her cheeks began heat up, "I mean we're just friends after all- not that friends can't walk together without it being - Ah! Um, what I mean is..."

Ichigo placed a hand over her mouth muffling the rest of her sentence, "It's fine," He said with a humored smile.

"Oh...um, ok. Right. Cool. Yeah...sure," She nodded, gripping her school bag.

 _Oh goodness Akane, talking to those girls really got to you didn't it?_ She thought to herself, feeling the warmth radiating from her cheeks.

* * *

As the two walked home, Akane, for once, felt a bit awkward. Talking to those girls definitely was messing with her head, because now all she could think about was their assumption that Ichigo and her were dating.

 _Has Ichigo ever had a girlfriend?_ She thought to herself. _Wait, does he have a girlfriend now?! No wait, if he did then it wouldn't make sense why those girls asked me if I was his girlfriend...Wait what if he has a_ secret _girlfriend? Actually, what if he doesn't even like girls! I mean if he likes boys that's cool, I won't judge, after all I'd support him no matter what! Actually, he seemed pretty close to that one gu-_

"What are you thinking about?" Ichigo asked, breaking Akane's train of thought.

Her face exploded with heat, "Oh! Uh, nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow upon noticing how flustered she was all the sudden, "You've been acting rather odd ever since lunchtime," He frowned, "Did Orihime say something weird to you?"

"What! No! Of course not!" Akane quickly denied.

Ichigo gave her a suspicious look.

"Er...Oh, hey look the sun is setting!" Akane suddenly pointed at the sky, forcing a distraction.

Ichigo could see through the obvious trick, but looked up anyway.

"Wow, it actually looks really nice," He commented, staring upward as a tinge of orange mixed into the pale blue sky, "I wish we could see it better though. That house is in the way."

Akane nodded, the sun's light was just barely noticeable behind all the surrounding buildings. Suddenly a thought occurred. She grabbed Ichigo's hand and exclaimed wildly, "I just remembered something!"

Without another word she began pulling Ichigo along with her in the opposite direction.

"H-hang on!" He stammered, but they were already running up a side street he barely recognized.

She pulled him down several streets, stopping only a few times as if she were trying to remember her way before sprinting off in a new direction. Before he knew it, the two were passing through the brush at the edge of a dead end street and were racing through a patch of woods. Akane finally stopped at the bottom of a hill. Both of them were out of breath.

She turned to Ichigo a big smile on her face, "Close your eyes real quick!"

"Wh-what's going on? Why are we here?" Ichigo asked between heavy breaths.

"It's a surprise! Just do it! Come on!" She begged.

Ichigo couldn't refuse those big, pleading green eyes, and sighed as he did as she asked. Akane excitedly lead him over the hilltop, and stopped in the middle of an open field.

"Ok. Open your eyes," She said trying to suppress her excitement.

Ichigo did as told and was stunned by the sight that greeted him. Now standing at the tip of the hilltop, he could see the whole sky stretched out before him. It had taken a bit of time for them to reach their location, so the sky was now a deeper blue, fading from the red and orange light the sinking sun cast behind it.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Akane commented smiling broadly, "Don't you remember our families coming here for picnics? We would sit and watch the clouds."

Memories of the past flipped through Ichigo's mind. He did remember it. In the summer they would have picnics here every other saturday. He breathed in the smell of pine and grinned.

"Yeah...I remember," He recalled, suddenly full of nostalgia.

"Back then we would always get upset because we couldn't stay long enough to see the sunset. But...now we can," Akane noted, staring upward.

Ichigo glanced at Akane. Her face was lit up by her vibrant smile. Her hair seemed to glow in the golden light, and her vibrantly green eyes were full of child-like innocence and warmth.

"It's so beautiful isn't it?" She sighed again, wistfully taking in the view before them.

Ichigo smiled to himself.

"Yeah...truly beautiful."


	6. Akane's Visit

After returning home last night Ichigo's reaper badge was beeping constantly. So again he was forced into a nearly sleepless night.

He stretched across his school desk and let out a wide yawn.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" Akane asked as she approached her friend.

Ichigo lazily shook his head no.

She gave him a pitied look, "You really need to take care of yourself! What keeps you up so late?"

He sighed tiredly. He wished he could tell her the truth. Instead he told the same lie he'd been telling for months, "Too much homework is all."

"Hey, by the way, there was something I wanted to ask- " Akane began, but was cut off by Keigo and Mizuiro's entrance.

"ICHIGOOO~!" Keigo called out.

The orange-haired student groaned in reply.

"Damn, you look terrible!" Keigo announced loudly, leaning in close to Ichigo's face.

Ichigo raised his head, flashing an icy glare.

"Eek! I forgot that you're even scarier when tired!" Keigo noted fearfully.

"What were you up late doing?" Mizuiro asked, taking his seat.

"Studying."

"But, there's no tests coming up!" Keigo protested.

Ichigo shot another glare at him, "I like to be prepared."

"Oh hooo? You're not doing...other things are you?" Keigo questioned suggestively.

A dark expression crossed Ichigo's face. He grabbed Keigo by the collar and pulled him closer.

"What exactly are you insinuating?" Ichigo asked in a cold tone. His eyes flashed murderously.

"Haa haa, n-nothing at all!" Keigo answered, sweating nervously.

Suddenly the bell rang, and Ichigo felt the relief of not having to talk anymore. Then, he recalled Akane's previous question.

"What did you want to tell me?" He asked her before she went to sit down.

"Oh! I'll tell you later!" She replied and hurried to her desk.

* * *

 ** _Lunch_**

"So, Akane what was it you wanted to ask about?" Ichigo asked sipping his juice box.

"Right! I was wondering if-"

"AKANE!" Keigo cut her off, "You are looking as beautiful as ever."

Akane blushed, "Thank you, Keigo. You're very sweet."

"Anything for my favorite transfer student!"

"You mean our only transfer student," Ichigo muttered under his breath.

The rest of the lunch period Keigo continued to pull Akane's attention towards him with his usual flattery, and the rest of the group continued to move conversation around, causing Akane to continuously to forget to ask Ichigo her question. By the time lunch was over, Akane hadn't said a word of it to Ichigo.

"Ah! I'll tell you the thing in science! It's kind of a long story!" She called out as she gathered her stuff once the bell rang.

 ** _Science_**

"ALL RIGHT CLASS. Yoday we are switching partners!" Coach Honda said.

"Er...Coach, wheres miss Kisa?" Akane asked.

"She got sick in the middle of the day! So, I will be teaching her classes for the rest of the day. And I do NOT tolerate talking!"

Akane groaned.

 _ **After school**_

"Mizuiro!" Akane ran up to the familiar classmate.

"Hello, Akane."

Akane looked around frantically, "Where's Ichigo?"

"He left already."

Akane's happiness level suddenly dropped to 0.

"I-Is something wrong?" Mizuiro asked nervously noting the complete 180 in her mood.

"N...no I'm fine."

 _Guess I'll just have the drop the news when I get there,_ Akane thought sighing exasperatedly.

* * *

"ICHIGO!"

"AGH! WHAT THE HELL?" Ichigo yelled, waking from his nap and falling off his bed. He looked up and saw a familiar stuffed lion looming over him, snickering.

"Hehe, I just wanted to scare you," Kon laughed.

Ichigo glared darkly and grabbed the stuffed lion, squeezing tight, "Don't you DARE do that again you idiot lion."

"Ah...y-yes..o-okay," Kon said trying to free himself from Ichigo's grip.

"Serves you right," Ririn said arms folded.

"Shut up you stupid bird," Kon snapped at her, after Ichigo tossed him to the ground.

"Don't you tell a me to shut up!" Ririn fumed, "AND I'M A WOMAN NOT A BIRD!"

"Whatever girlie," Kon said smugly.

"YOU-!" Ririn jumped up and kicked Kon in the face.

"Would you too shut up?!" Rukia yelled opening her closet door and hitting Kon in the face with her Biology book, "SOME OF US ARE DOING HOMEWORK!"

A light knock interrupted the four's argument, "Ichigo?" A voice asked.

Ichigo jumped up and in one swift movement, threw Ririn and Kon in the closet with Rukia and slid the door shut.

Yuzu opened his bedroom door.

"What were you doing?" She asked slowly.

"Nothing! Just...studying!" Ichigo replied, picking up Rukia's textbook.

Yuzu looked around curiously, "I thought I heard voices...was someone in here?"

"Voices? Ah...No! I was just uh..er-.."

A loud ring echoed through the house.

"Oh! That's the doorbell! I'll go see who it is!" Ichigo sped past Yuzu, as if forgetting her question, and hurried downstairs.

The doorbell rang again.

"Hey, Ichigo. Get the door," Ichigo's dad said as he sat on the couch reading the paper.

"What do you THINK I'm doing?" Ichigo muttered angrily as he walked towards the door.

"Oi! I don't wanna hear your sass!" Their dad said turning to face Ichigo.

"I wasn't GIVING you sass!" Ichigo replied stopping and clenching his fists.

"OH! Mr. Know-It-all here thinks he can just say what he wants HUH?"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!"

Ichigo's dad jumped out of his seat and got into a fighting position.

"ALL RIGHT TIME TO SETTLE THIS THE MANLY WAY!" He announced.

"BRING IT ON OLD MAN!"

The two went into an all out brawl, both completely forgetting the door.

"Idiot men in this house, can't even do a simple task without fighting," Karin muttered irritably and went to answer the door herself.

It was Akane.

"Hi Karin. Is your dad here?"

"Oh! Hello AKANE," Karin replied, saying Akane's name loud enough for Ichigo and their dad to hear.

All the sudden the two broke apart immediately.

"Akane! My sweet child! Oh! How long it's been!" Ichigo's dad said reaching out his hands to hug her.

Ichigo grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the other side of the room.

"Idiot," he mumbled.

Then he looked up and noticed the load Akane had with her. She was carrying a sleeping bag and pillow under her arm, and a big duffle bag swung over her shoulder.

"Hey what's all that for?"

"Oh...um.." Akane looked down embarrassed.

* * *

"So, you need a place to stay because your parents are getting your house renovated," Ichigo summarized after Akane had explained herself.

Apparently, all day at school Akane had been trying to tell Ichigo everything, but kept getting interrupted.

"Where are your parents staying?" Karin asked, "Seems like a jerk move for them to just leave you to fend for yourself."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that!" Akane answered assuredly, "My dad is actually out of town on a business trip, and his company gave him the offer to bring someone along with him. I told my mother I'd be just fine on my own, so she could go. Plus, I didn't want to miss school so soon. Only, we had completely forgotten we had hired some workers to fix up the house this week. The whole house is under heavy reconstruction, so I told my mom I'd just stay with a friend for the time being."

The Kurosaki family all nodded understandingly.

"So...uhm...is it ok if I stay here for awhile?" She asked, "It'll only be week! And I PROMISE I won't break anything, or ruin the house! I'll even do some of the chores!" She added desperately.

"Of course you can stay Akane! We would never leave a pretty girl out in the rain!" Mr. Kurosaki said holding her hands in his.

"H-Hey wait! Don't go making decisions without thinking it over!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Where's she gonna sleep?"

"I could sleep on the floor! I'll do whatever it takes to not be a burden!" Akane said determinedly.

"Nonsense!" Mr. Kurosaki cut in, "We would never allow that!"

"We-well, what about the living room couch?" Akane suggested instead.

"Erm...well," Ichigo scratched his head, still unsure.

It was hard enough keeping his secret from his family, how would he manage with Akane here too? Then again, he wasn't going to just leave her without a place to stay.

"Come on Ichigo! She's like family!" Yuzu pleaded.

"Yeah, what's a week or so gonna do? She even said she'll help with chores!" Karin added.

"You don't mind sleeping on the couch?" Ichigo asked Akane.

"Not at all!" Akane answered confidently.

"Then I guess it's all right..." Ichigo concluded at last. He's been able to keep his secret up for this long, and it will only be a week, he assured himself. Surely, nothing major would occur.

"OH THANK YOU!" Akane cheered happily and jumped from her seat excitedly.

"YAY! Akane's staying over!" Karin and Yuzu cheered.

"Don't get any plans while she's sleeping by the way," Ichigo added glaring pointedly at his dad.

All his dad gave was two thumbs up and a big grin. That didn't really reassure Ichigo and he rolled his eyes. _Well this is definitely going to be an interesting week..._

Suddenly he remembered. _Rukia! I better warn her._

He briefly excused himself and ran upstairs.

"Rukia! Rukia!"

She opened the closet door, "What is it?"

"Akane's staying over for the week. I wanted to make sure you were aware," Ichigo explained hurriedly.

Rukia's eyes got wide, "Akane is?"

"Yeah her parents are renovating their house, so be on guard."

Rukia paused for a moment. Then nodded, "Yeah...I just got a notice from the Soul Society anyway...So I will be gone too." Her voice sounded slightly dull and she didn't look at Ichigo when she spoke.

"Oh that's perfect!" Ichigo replied grinning.

"Mmhmm." Rukia agreed frowning.

"Is everything alright?" Ichigo asked noticing her annoyed look.

"...Yeah it's fine. Hey look I should go now. See ya." And with that she was out the window.

 _What's with her? She seemed irritated?_ Ichigo thought confused. Eventually he just shrugged it off and went back downstairs to help Akane get settled.


	7. I Think I'm Falling For You

Ichigo woke up the next morning to the mouth-watering smell of bacon and eggs. He got up and followed the irresistible scent downstairs. When he got to the bottom of the steps he saw Akane placing plates and bowls down on the table. She had Yuzu's usual yellow apron on and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a thin black ribbon. Yuzu and Karin were sitting around the table.

"Morning Ichigo! Akane wanted to make breakfast today, so I said it was fine with me!" Yuzu explained, grinning widely.

Since taking care of the cooking and most of the laundry was her typical duty, the young Kurosaki daughter was more then happy to have a break for today.

"I just wanted to do something to show you guys my appreciation," Akane said, smiling in return. Then, she clenched her fist with a look of determination. "I promised I'd do whatever it takes to help out!"

Ichigo chuckled while he took a seat, "Thanks, Akane."

He licked his lips, distracted by the smell of sizzling bacon and buttered toast. Akane noticed.

"Don't worry, Ichigo, I made lots because I've seen how much you can eat during lunch," She said with a playful grin.

Ichigo grinned back. Yuzu took note of his happier-than-usual demeanor and nudged Karin. The two glanced at Ichigo and Akane and then exchanged knowing looks.

"My sweet Akane, come to treat your loving father with your delicious food! Ah, I am honored!" Mr. Kurosaki announced as he entered the kitchen.

"Oi it's not _just_ for you, dumb old man," Ichigo commented his expression flipping to annoyance.

His dad kicked Ichigo out of his chair and grinned, "I'm sorry did you say something, _son?_ "

"What the hell!?" Ichigo shouted, getting up.

"I will not tolerate such language in this house young man!" Mr. Kurosaki scolded, although he was grinning as he prepared himself for a fight.

"LIKE HELL YOU WON'T!" Ichigo swung a punch.

The kitchen timer dinged.

"Breakfast's done!" Akane announced brightly.

Ichigo's punch stopped only half an inch from his father's face.

In an instant, both men were sitting down around the table, forks at the ready, as Akane laid out their meal. Piles of food filled each plate. Ham, fried eggs, turkey bacon, and buttered toast. Akane came around and poured everyone a glass of orange juice.

They dug in heartily. Akane had hardly started on her own plate when both guys were asking for seconds.

After lunch, Mr. Kurosaki said his goodbyes - more than once to Akane - as he headed out with Yuzu to go shopping.

"I told the guys I'd play soccer with them today," Karin stated, picking up her cleats.

"Sounds like fun," Akane replied, hanging up Yuzu's apron.

"Yeah, I sure hope the guys have their game faces ready this time," Karin said excitedly.

"What about you, Ichigo?" Akane questioned.

"Nothing really, I figured I'd stay home and do some homework." Ichigo shrugged.

"But if you stay inside all day you'll get lazy and slow," Akane stated, jokingly

"I don't think he can get any slower," Karin muttered but still loud enough for Ichigo to hear.

"You sure as hell better not be saying I am dumb."

"Noooo, of course not~" Karin's sarcasm was obvious.

A vein popped on Ichigo's forehead, "Yeah? Well-!"

"I'll see you later Akane, thanks for the breakfast again!" Karin quickly thanked and hurried to the door.

"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Karin stuck her tongue out at Ichigo before she shut the door behind her.

"That little-" Ichigo trailed off muttering curses under his breath.

Akane's laughter cut him off.

"Wh-what's so funny?"

"You guys crack me up, you're all so full of energy," She chuckled, "I wish I had siblings like that."

"Just wait, you learn to despise them," He remarked crossing his arms.

Akane chuckled.

"Hmm, well since we have all this time, let's study together!" Akane offered.

Ichigo's face fell, "Ugh, do we really have to? We don't have any tests coming up anyway."

"You seemed pretty willing to study yesterday, considering you stayed up all night doing just that," Akane accused.

Ichigo sweated a bit, "Oh? When did I say that?"

"During class, when you kept falling asleep?" Akane replied, raising an eyebrow.

Ichigo replied nervously, "O-Oh, I guess I did."

"Unless you really were doing _something else_ like Keigo suggested?" Akane narrowed her eyes.

"What? No! I was studying!" Ichigo quickly covered, his face reddening, "C'mon let's go! I don't want to fail any tests!" He rushed upstairs with a newfound eagerness.

Akane chuckled and followed him upstairs.

* * *

Ichigo stretched. He and Akane had been studying for a few hours now. Books were splayed out in front of him on his bed, and strewn across the floor in front of Akane.

"Do you want to take a break?" He asked closing his textbook.

Akane closed her book as well, and sighed tiredly. "Yes, please! I was just starting to regret the suggestion that we study. Needless to say, I don't think I'll do very well on that Physics test coming up."

She stretched her legs out and leaned back against his bed. Before she could ask what he wanted to do next, something shiny caught the corner of her eye. While Ichigo was distracted with reorganizing his textbooks, Akane crawled over to the item and examined it. It was a strange metal pentagon with what appeared to be a skull on it, behind the skull was a large X. She held the plate up, so Ichigo could see it.

"Hey this is cool, what is it?"

Ichigo looked over and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest. In Akane's hands was his substitute soul reaper badge.

"It's nothing," He said as casually as possible and made a grab for the item.

But, she pulled it away, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Just nothing?"

Ichigo could feel the back of his neck sweat, "Yeah, nothing," he repeated, feigning carelessness.

Akane could tell he wasn't being entirely truthful.

"Oh. Ok. If you say so..." She shrugged and made it seem as if she was about to hand it over, but then pulled it out of his grasp before he could close his fingers around it.

"Actually, I'll just keep it," She said jumping to her feet.

"Hey!" Ichigo jumped off his bed.

"You said it was nothing, so you don't care, right?" She asked, hiding it behind her back as he made another grab for it.

"Akane!" He exclaimed.

"You gotta get it from me~!" She teased running to the other side of the room.

He chased after her, and he was fast - all his training assured that - but he wasn't used to trying to move so quickly in such a small room. Plus Akane's small frame made it easier for her to maneuver around him. So, Ichigo's usual swiftness wasn't present as he anxiously tried to grab his badge from her. She laughed, and although he was frustrated, he started laughing too, as she ducked and dodged him.

At one point he almost had her cornered, but she threw a pillow at his face, and then slipped right past him.

"Hey! That's cheating!" He exclaimed.

"Who said there were rules!?" Akane returned with a grin, rushing to the other side of the room.

"C'mon Akane, give it up!" He asked, grinning back as he made another lunge for it. Akane tried to back up smoothly, but her foot landed on a book instead of the floor. She felt it give way under her, and she slipped backwards.

Ichigo, unable to control his momentum from lunging toward her, fell forward with her.

Before the two had realized what happened, Ichigo was on the ground with Akane pinned underneath him.

They stared at one another, speechless, for a few moments. Their faces were so close together that Ichigo could feel Akane's warm breath against his face, heavy from all the moving around just moments before. The ribbon in her hair seemed to have fallen out at some point, and so her vibrant hair was splayed out around her. He was keenly aware of the fact that, if he hadn't caught himself when he fell, he would be chest to chest with her at this point.

Ichigo's eyes fell to her lips, and a thought passed through his mind that made his face turn a deeper shade of red.

"I'm s-s-sorry I-I just...uhm," Ichigo stuttered, straightening his arms and pulling his head back a bit, so their bodies weren't as close.

"N-no...it's my fault...I sh-should of..." Akane stammered in reply, but couldn't seem to complete a sentence either.

The two looked away from each other, awkwardly unsure what to do.

"Ahm...ca-can you get off me?" Akane said finally.

"Oh! er...yeah." Ichigo replied.

 _Of course! She can't move until you do you dummy!_ He thought to himself, cursing himself for not getting up from the start. He clumsily stumbled to his feet and waited for Akane to stand up as well.

Akane stood slowly, but almost as soon as she got up she fell forward. Luckily, Ichigo caught her just in time.

"A-Are you ok?" He asked.

"Erm...ah ye-yes fine...I j-just am a little dizzy," She replied trying to steady herself. She touched the back of her head lightly and her face immediately twisted in pain, "Ugh, I think I hit my head, when I fell."

"I'll get you an ice pack," Ichigo offered quickly. He guided her to his bed so she could sit down, and then hurried downstairs, the scene from only moments before replaying over and over in his head.

He rushed towards the freezer, searching for something cold and bagged. The cool air felt nice against his heated face.

 _Akane smells really nice._ He thought to himself as he searched. _Wait, no that's such a creepy thing to think Ichigo! What is wrong with you? Calm down._

 _But..her eyes are really...green._ He mused, recalling that, for a moment, he was so entranced by those brilliant emerald pools. _And her skin seemed really soft...and wow she is so tiny. I mean, I knew she was small, but she must be a full foot shorter than me. Regardless, she definitely doesn't look like a child anymore. I mean it's nothing compared to Orihime, but even so her bust is quite- Agh! no stop! Don't think about that you pervert!_

He tried to shove away the thoughts rolling through his mind as he grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer and rushed back upstairs.

* * *

 _Oh my goodness, did that really just happen!?_ Akane wondered to herself after Ichigo left, her face redder than she thought was possible. _This is like...stuff that happens in shoujo manga, not real life!_

The image of Ichigo hunched over her, so close, she could feel his breath brush her neck, ran through her mind. His eyes, soft and brown, his cheeks flushed pink, his broad shoulders blocking the bedroom light...

She flusteredly rolled around Ichigo's bed as she tried to get the image out of her head.

 _I've never seen Ichigo's face so close...he's not bad looking._ She thought to herself suddenly. She buried her face in one of Ichigo's pillows. _These pillows smell just like his hair did..._

 _Ack! I am such a creep, stop!_ She quickly tossed the pillow aside, and sat upright again.

 _How do I react when he comes back? Do I just pretend it never happened? Should I make a joke about it? Ugh, but I'd probably just get flustered if I bring it up, and make things worse! Oh god, why did I think it was funny to hide that weird pendant from him? He probably thinks i'm some idiot..._

Suddenly, the conversation with Orihime and the girls at school crossed her mind

" _Are you dating Ichigo?"_

Ever since that moment, she couldn't help but wonder about his dating life. But, at the same time, one other thought repeatedly crossed her mind: _Do I want to be dating Ichigo?_

As a kid, she had to admit, she did develop a bit of a crush on him. But, that was when they were much younger. He was so different now. He was much older, much taller, and much, _much_ more muscular. He was brash and irritable at times, but he was also protective and loyal and kind.

She still loved his laugh and she still loved his smile. Those things didn't change, and she doubted they ever would.

In fact, she couldn't help but notice that he smiled differently around her. At school he kept up this cool, careless attitude. But, around her he was gentle and easy to talk to. His smile around her seemed genuine, while with the others it was rather reserved. And it made her smile more easily when she was around him; made her laugh more easily, too.

How could she explain it? It was almost as if being around him just felt... _right._ Like he was her safe haven. She felt comfortable around him - at ease. There was no other person she would rather spend her time with. Even that day when she was in tears, _he_ was the one who came to her side. And, although she was embarrassed, she was so happy that he was there for her. She didn't even have to ask. He knew exactly how to make her feel better.

" _You remind me of a beautiful rose_ ," He had said.

Her heart fluttered every time she recalled that phrase, and she cringed to think about how red her face must have been after he said it. Almost as red as it was now, no doubt.

The image of Ichigo from just moments before popped into her mind again. Hunched over her, nearly nose to nose, but she did not feel intimidated nor anxious. In fact, for the briefest second, she actually wondered would be like if, at that very moment, she leaned in and kissed him. What would his lips feel like against hers?

She clutched her chest. Her heart raced faster every second she lingered on that thought.

"I think..." She muttered to herself, "I think I like Ichigo."


	8. Sleep Deprived

Ichigo opened his bedroom door, luckily being downstairs managed to help him calm down a little. But, he still felt a bit nervous as he walked over to Akane and handed her the bag of peas.

"Thanks," She said softly.

Ichigo sat down on the bed, making sure to keep a fair enough distance from the girl.

"Uhm...look, I'm really sorry about... _that_ earlier. Can we just...forget it happened?" Ichigo asked looking to her ever so slightly.

Akane's cheeks flushed a bit again at the memory, "Y-yes, let's just put it behind us. I'd hate for the both of us to get all awkward over something so silly."

Ichigo felt relieved, "Ok, let's finish studying then."

Despite conversing over it, there remained an air of awkwardness between the two. They stood as far away from each other as possible during the rest of their study time.

* * *

The next couple of days seemed to fly by. Ichigo started to get used to waking up to the delicious smells cooked up by Akane each morning. And, always walking to and from school together was enjoyable. Akane had even started making lunches for everyone to take to school, including Ichigo and herself. The two managed to regain their comfort with each other, and soon enough had almost completely put the falling incident behind them.

"I'll be right back!" Akane announced brushing off her skirt as she stood up.

It was lunch period and, as always, she was sitting with the others on the roof. Today they were joined by Orihime and Tatsuki.

"Be careful," Ichigo called, not forgetting the first time Akane went to get a drink for lunch.

"I'll be fine!" She replied cheerfully and rushed off.

"So...something you wanna tell us Ichigo?" Tatsuki suddenly asked with a devious look on her face after the door shut behind Akane.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that Akane is apparently _living in the same house as you_."

Ichigo nearly chocked on his food, as Keigo, and Mizuiro gasped loudly.

"W-wh-wh-where did you hear that?!" He sputtered, shocked.

"Aha! So you don't deny it?!" Tatsuki accused.

"I never said it's true!" He countered, "I just wanna know where you heard such a ridiculous rumour," He was trying not to appear as alarmed as he really was.

"Let's just say, Tatsuki was told by Haruhi that Asami-chan heard from Mizuno that Taiga saw Akane enter your house the other day, and never left," Orihime chimed in with a grin as full of mischief as Tatsuki's was.

Ichigo tried to keep a straight face, "How does she know Akane didn't leave while she wasn't looking?"

"Beeeecauuuusee," Orihime took a deep breath, "Taiga was walking with Misaki, who called Hitomi, who lives across the street from Mai-chan, and told her to tell her cousin Tohru, who lives across the street from you, to keep a close eye on your door to see if anyone left, and by 11:00pm the house lights went out and Akane still hadn't left." She folded her arms with a look of accomplishment.

"Also you two have had matching lunches for the past three days," Tatsuki added bluntly.

"Ichigo...is it true?" Keigo's eyes were teary, "You're sleeping with Akane?"

"I'm not sleeping with her you idiot!" Ichigo shouted his cheeks turning red, "She just...she just happens to be staying at my house while her's is under renovations. We sleep in _completely_ different rooms, on different floors, and walk to school together. _That's. All,"_ He stressed _, "_ She's only staying for a couple more days anyway."

"Even so, a lot can happen when you're living under the same roof," Tatsuki said still smirking.

"Ichigo don't try anything funny on Akane!" Orihime commanded wagging a finger at him, "I know just how you teenage boys operate!"

"I-I would never-!" He started, genuinely offended.

Keigo sobbed over-dramatically, "Ichigo why can't you just leave some girls for the rest of us!" He whined.

"Shut up! Akane and I-" Ichigo raised his voice but was cut off by Mizuiro.

"Don't worry Ichigo, we'll keep it secret," He winked, ignoring Ichigo's attempts at denying it.

The rest all teased Ichigo on the subject until the door to the rooftop swung open and out pranced Akane.

"What'd I miss?" She asked innocently.

Everyone went silent and stared at Ichigo, his cheeks still heated.

"Sooo~ Akane, what's it like living with Ichigo?" Tatsuki finally spoke up.

Akane reddened, and the whole group, except Ichigo, burst into laughter.

* * *

"Agh, I can't believe Tatsuki and Orihime figured it out like that!" Ichigo complained as he and Akane walked home.

"It sounded pretty complex the way Orihime explained it," Akane mused, "Oh well, they were bound to find out eventually."

"At least it's only a couple more days, right?" Ichigo said.

"Yeaaaahhh...about that," Akane started.

Ichigo frowned, "What is it?"

"It seems rennovations are going to take bit longer than anticipated," She said giving a nervous look.

"How much longer?"

"Er...about a week?" Akane said and bit her lip.

Ichigo sighed, "Ahhh, figures. Well it's whatever, we'll let you stay as long as you want. I doubt Karin and Yuzu will mind."

"Thank you! You're the best!" Akane cheered and wrapped her arms around Ichigo from his side, hugging him tightly, "I'll make an extra special breakfast tomorrow!"

* * *

That night Ichigo lay in bed wide awake. It was the first night in awhile where he didn't have to go out and fight Hollows. It was such a rare occasion that it seemed his body had gotten used to falling asleep at ridiculous hours. So, despite being as exhausted as ever, he couldn't sleep at all. Instead he was left alone with only his thoughts to preoccupy him.

 _I hope the others don't think anything is going on between me and Akane._ He thought. _They better not spread some ridiculous rumor about it. I mean...there was that time we were studying together, but we both are over that now! It's long behind us...I hope. For all I know Akane probably thinks I'm some pervert now...Come to think of it...she has been sitting further away from me at lunch lately...No wait, that's just because Keigo is trying even harder to absorb all her attention. That idiot. I usually just let him be with this stuff, but with Akane it's different..._

"Agh, I've been feeling so weird lately, what is going on?" He groaned.

Suddenly, Ichigo's musings were interrupted by a light knock on his door. Surprised, he sat up in bed and checked his clock. It was 12:00am. Who would be knocking on his door at so late an hour?

Ichigo slowly got up and trudged over to open the door.

He squinted in the bright hallway light to see Akane in a pair of pajama shorts and a T-shirt that was too big for her with a pillow held closely against her chest.

"Ah, sorry to wake you," She whispered.

"No, it's fine, I couldn't sleep anyway," Ichigo replied holding back a yawn, "What do you need?"

Akane shuffled her feet sheepishly, "Erm, well before I got ready for bed I made a quick run to the convenience store for some school supplies I desperately needed, and when I got back your dad was fast asleep on the couch. I figured maybe he would get up after I got ready for bed but no such luck. And...well I don't want to disturb him or anything."

"Do you want me to kick him off for you?" Ichigo suggested nonchalantly.

"No!" Akane said quickly, then realizing how loud that was lowered her voice again, "No, it's okay, I'd hate to wake him and then have you two get into another fight waking up Karin and Yuzu."

"Oh, right," Ichigo nodded embarrassed since he knew that would most definitely happen.

"I didn't want to wake either Karin or Yuzu for help," She added, "So...uh..." her cheeks turned pink.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow impatiently.

"Would it be okay if I...slept in your room?" Akane asked at last, squeezing her pillow against her.

Ichigo sighed and gave a tiny smile, "Good thing it's not a school night," and he opened his door wide to let her in.

"Thanks!" She smiled brightly and stepped inside.

Luckily, Ichigo had cleaned his room that evening, so there was plenty of floor space. Ichigo, noticing how uncomfortable the hard wood would feel to lay on, brought out a small mattress and an extra pillow from inside his closet and covered it with some blankets for Akane.

"Why is there a mattress in your closet?" She asked a little confused.

Ichigo froze for a minute, it was actually the mattress Rukia slept on inside his closet.

"Er, it's in case any of my friends decide to sleep over," He quickly answered.

"Oh, I see," She nodded, easily falling for his white lie.

After a short 'good night' to one another, Ichigo bundled up in his blankets and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

The orange haired teen woke up to the feeling of something poking his side. His eyes fluttered open, and there was Akane again.

"Wh-what's up?" He asked sleepily. He looked at his alarm clock, it read 3:00am.

"I...I," Akane's voice was shaking. As Ichigo's eyes adjusted to the darkness he noticed her body was quivering.

"Is something wrong?" He sat up quickly, his expression full of concern.

"I...I had a nightmare," She said almost too quiet for him to hear.

"A nightmare?"

She nodded, both embarassed and rather shaken.

Without a second thought Ichigo pulled up his covers, and mumbled, "Get in."

Perhaps if he wasn't so sleep-deprived he would have suggested something else, but it was too late and he was far to exhausted to think of other solutions. Akane was so shaken she didn't think much of it either, and silently climbed into his bed. She snuggled up close to him, curled in a little ball against his chest, trying to stop shivering. And the two fell back asleep, Ichigo's arms wrapped around Akane's small frame.

* * *

Ichigo's eyes slowly peeled open. He could feel something digging into his stomach, and something heavy was on top of one of his arms, causing it to go numb. He blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes and all he could see was a blur of red. As his vision came into focus, and his brain began to process his surroundings, he suddenly realized what this strange heap near him was.

Akane, was lying on her side, on top of one of his arms, her own arms wrapped around Ichigo's neck, while her knee dug into his stomach. A fuzzy memory of last night floated through Ichigo's mind.

His whole body stiffened, and his face turned as red as ever.

"Mmmm," Akane hummed in her sleep, a little smile on her face as she snuggled closer to Ichigo, blissfully unaware of their current situation.

 _First, what happened while studying, now this!_ He lamented. _Why must women always test my innocent heart like this?_ He had seen grown women half-clothed, and practically naked, but _this..._ this was somehow too much for him.

He tried to pull her arms off him, but her grip was tight. He tried pushing her off, but she refused to budge. She was as stubborn as a rock.

"Nooooo," She complained in her sleep, pulling herself even closer to Ichigo. Now their bodies were completely pressed against each other.

Ichigo could feel his whole body heat up, far too aware of how her chest and hips felt against his own, and the fact that Akane's face was barely an inch away from his. Her warm breath tickled his neck as she sighed in her sleep. He noticed that her baggy shirt was starting to climb up her torso as she moved. Any further and she would expose her entire upper body.

Ichigo quickly pulled her shirt back down before it got too far.

He desperately continued to try and free himself. He was starting to feel uncomfortably hot.

"Ichi~" Akane muttered, pressing her hips into his. Ichigo couldn't take this anymore.

"gooo~" She sighed and finally flipped onto her back, releasing him from her tight embrace.

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief and was finally able to pull his arm out from underneath her. He wiggled his way out from under the covers, careful not to wake Akane up. Then, he crawled to the end of his bed, to get around Akane, and climbed off from there. He had almost made a successful attempt at escaping when suddenly he heard the sound of something cracking beneath his feet.

He looked down and, lifting his foot, saw a crushed picture frame.

He cursed softly and picked it up. It wasn't a picture that he owned he realized. And, it was sitting right where Akane originally slept, which meant that it must belong to...

He took a sharp breath when he heard Akane move around in her bed. She muttered something and then went quiet again, assuring Ichigo she was still asleep. He sighed, relieved, and went back to panicking about the picture.

It was only the glass he broke, not the actual frame, but he still dreaded telling Akane what he had just done. What if the picture was important?

Holding the picture up in the light sneaking through his curtains, he looked closely at what the picture was of. It was a photo of a young girl, probably about three years old being held up by a boy who seemed around the age of seven. The girl's red hair made it obvious that it was a younger Akane. Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at the cute little pout she had on her face. The boy holding her Ichigo didn't recognize, but there was something familiar about him. He had black hair and green eyes, and had a big goofy smile on his face.

Ichigo gathered the glass and threw it in his trash bin, and placed the picture and frame on his desk. He would apologize about it to Akane in the morning. As he was putting it down something small fluttered out from behind the photo frame.

Picking it up, he saw it was another photo, a lot smaller than the previous one. It was also of Akane, but she was older. It seemed pretty recent, probably from while she stilled lived in America. The boy from the last picture was in this one as well, also much older.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he examined the picture. In the photo Akane was holding a bouquet of roses as the boy was kissing her on the cheek. He flipped the photo over and saw some writing on the back, which read:

 _"Dear Akane,_

 _I had so much fun visiting you for the week, I hope you are taking good care of the roses I gave you._

 _I can't wait to see you and everyone else again, I promise to visit again as soon as I can._

 _I love and miss you tons._

 _Love,_

 _Ayumu._


	9. Suspicions and Revelations

_Dear Akane,_

 _I had so much fun visiting you for the week, I hope you are taking good care of the roses I gave you._

 _I can't wait to see you and everyone else again, I promise to visit again as soon as I can._

 _I love and miss you tons._

 _Love,_

 _Ayumu_

Ichigo read the note on the photo over and over again. He kept flipping between it and the picture on the other side, his eyes focusing on the words love and then to the boy's lips pressed against Akane's cheek. Something about the image especially irked him. His head began to reel with questions.

 _Who was this Ayumu? Is he still in America? Why hadn't Akane ever mentioned him? How old is this photo?_

However, the question that continued to resurface was whether the two were more to each other than just good friends. No boy just gives a girls roses and kisses her and uses the word love (not once, but TWICE) in a note to her. They _had_ to be something more.

But, why should he care? It's not like Akane was his girlfriend or anything. Yet, he still didn't like the thought of this guy. He didn't want Akane to be with someone other guy, especially not on such an...intimate level.

Ichigo glanced at Akane's sleeping frame. Her red hair was spread out across his covers, and she was curled up into a little ball. The faintest smile played along her lips, and Ichigo hoped she was having nothing but good dreams. He really loved her smile.

He really loved a lot about Akane.

He really loved Akane.

The thought crossed his mind before he could stop it. But, it wasn't a surprise to him. It was more like a truth that he had been trying to keep hidden from himself, and he had slipped up this time. He had mistakenly allowed himself to fully realize it.

He loved Akane.

He loved her a lot.

And the thought of her belonging to someone else made his heart ache unbearably so.

* * *

"You want us to ask Akane what?!" Tatsuki and Orihime exclaimed simultaneously.

"If she...has a boyfriend," Ichigo answered softly, feeling the embarrassment of his request after repeating it to the girls.

He just couldn't get this Ayumu out of his head. He needed to know what this guy truly meant to Akane, and he figured Tatsuki and Orihime would be his best bet for finding out that fact.

"Why are you so interested?" Tatsuki questioned, although her impish smile suggested she had a pretty good idea of the answer.

Ichigo had prepared to lie, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to. He didn't want to hide these feelings anymore. Besides, Orihime and Tatsuki would discover it eventually, regardless.

"I...well," He looked down embarassedly, "I recently realized that I...have certain feelings for her. And, I want to be sure she isn't involved with someone else already."

Tatsuki clapped a hand over Orihime's mouth, muffling the loud squeal she had just let out.

Once Tatsuki had removed her hand Orihime celebrated boisterously, "I knew it! I knew it! Ahh you two are so cute!"

Ichigo's face reddened.

"Don't tell anyone else!" He ordered, still embarassed, "Especially not Akane. I...I want to be able to tell her myself."

"We got it, don't worry," Tatsuki assured with a big grin.

"Is there anything else you want us to learn for you?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah, like how many guys she's dated in the past?" Tatsuki offered, "What her favorite date spots are? What her bra size is?"

Ichigo glared at her.

Tatsuki chuckled, "Okay, okay I'm only joking, no need to get all offended."

* * *

Akane had just left her fifth period class when she suddenly felt someone latch onto both her arms.

"Akane!" Orihime cheered, holding the girl's right arm against her chest, "Eat lunch with us today!"

"Yeah!" Tatsuki agreed, gripping Akane's left arm rather tightly, "The girls miss you!"

"O-oh! Well, uh-" Akane fumbled for a response.

"Great!" Orihime celebrated, "Let's GOOOooooOOooo!"

Before she knew it, Akane was being pulled out to the courtyard where a familiar cluster of girls had congregated. The girls were already in deep discussion.

"I never sleep with one on," One girl stated confidently.

"What!? Why not!?" A blonde girl asked, apalled by this revelation.

"Your boobs don't grow otherwise!"

"Oh, come on Hana-chan. You really think you need bigger boobs?" A thin brunnette girl asked, her eyebrow quirked in doubt.

"Well, I certainly don't want them to shrink," Hana replied.

"I always wear a bra to bed. I think they are comfy!" The blonde girl stated.

"Misaki-chan, no offense, but you hardly need a bra to begin with," Another girl with straight black hair stated bluntly.

The blonde, Misaki, threw her empty juice box at the girl with a glare.

"What's the point anyway?" Hana announced, "I mean, none of us will ever reach the standard Orihime has set."

Orihime blushed, "Ah, it really isn't as great as it seems. Finding clothes that fit right are very troublesome."

"Easy for you to say," Misaki sighed, "What size are you again? Quadruple D?"

The girls laughed at the exaggeration.

"Hey, but Akane is pretty close!" Hana noted, "I think yours are bigger than mine! What size do you wear?"

Akane felt embarassed answering. She timidly gave her reply, "Ah, uhm a 38D."

"Dang! You beat me by one size up! I'm only a 36D."

The black-haired girl from before had to think about her answer, "I kinda go between sizes, but I think I'm around a 32B. What about you Misaki?"

"I'm a 28A," Misaki was dismayed by her own reply.

"Hey don't be so depressed about it! Lots of guys like smaller chested girls!" Hana encouraged.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, my boyfriend did say once he didn't care what size my boobs were. But, I still wish they were bigger."

"Oh, really? Who is your boyfriend again?" Tatsuki asked, attempting to keep the conversation on the topic of boyfriends.

"His name is Rentaro. He goes to Samezuka."

"OOoo, the boys at Samezuka Academy are so hot!" Misaki gushed, "Their swim team especially."

"Really? I think the boys from Iwatobi are much cuter," Hana replied, "But, no one is as cute as my Léo-kun."

"Ahh, it must be nice having a boyfriend," Orihime sighed.

"Or just a significant other in general," The black-haired girl agreed.

"What about you, Akane? Do you have someone waiting for you back in America?" Tatsuki asked.

"Oh! No, not at all."

"C'mon, you don't have to keep secrets from us," Orihime insisted with a wink, "Surely there's someone?"

Akane laughed, "No really! I've never even had a boyfriend to begin with."

"Really?!" Misaki asked, surprised.

"Nope," Akane verified, "I moved to America when I was ten, and most of the boys in America thought I was weird. I'd be surprised if any of them ever had a crush on me to begin with."

"Wow, that's surprising! You're so pretty," Hana insisted.

"Thank you," Akane's cheeks turned a light pink, "That's sweet of you to say."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked.

"Positive. No boyfriend, not now, and never before," Tatsuki assured.

"Hmmm, I see..."

A wave of both relief and confusion washed over Ichigo. He was happy to know Akane was single at the moment, but that just made him more confused about who Ayumu was. He wondered if Akane had lied to the two girls. But, he couldn't see why she would.

"Well, now that we've solved that mystery, Orhime and I are going to head to class," Tatsuki announced.

"Let us know when you finally pluck up the courage to confess to Akane!" Orihime requested.

Ichigo blushed.

"See ya!"

The two started to head off, but suddenly Tatsuki stopped as if remembering something.

"Oh yeah, and Ichigo?"

"What?"

"Akane is a D-cup."

Ichigo's face immediately turned a vibrant shade of red.

"Just in case you were curious," Tatsuki added with a wink, and then left.

* * *

That afternoon Ichigo met with Akane at the front gate.

"How was your day, Ichigo?"

"The same as any other day," Ichigo replied, "How about you?"

"It was...interesting," Akane answered, recalling the conversations during lunch.

As the two took their usual route home, Ichigo mused how he could bring up the topic of Ayumu. He didn't want to be too blunt about it, but he wasn't sure how on earth he would work it into casual conversation.

"Oh my gosh, look!"

Akane's comment pulled Ichigo out of his thoughts. His gaze landed in the direction Akane was referring to. Walking along the street was a small group of kids in karate uniforms.

"They're so cute!" Akane squealed, "That one with the orange belt kind of reminds me of you."

Ichigo watched the one Akane had picked out walking with his hands behind his head. A cool scowl was set on his face. Ichigo frowned.

"I don't see it."

Akane chuckled, "Ah that reminds me of when we were kids! I remember our first meeting. We were at the dojo and I was waiting for my cousin, and then you walked out instead."

Ichigo smiled, "Yeah, I remember that. I was so stunned when you suddenly asked if I wanted to play with you. You certainly haven't lost your forwardness in that way."

"Well, my mother always said I was unbelievably friendly. Apparently, I used to just go up to random kids and ask them to be my friend. What's really funny though is one time I did that at a family reunion to my cousin!"

Ichigo laughed, "Really?"

"Yeah, but it worked! We became really close after that. His family would often come visit us in America."

"Wow, it must have been nice when they came by."

"Yeah, I missed him almost as much as I missed you!"

Ichigo's cheeks turned a little pink at her comment. Akane went on, unaware of it, "I'm lucky now though, now I get to see both of you more frequently," She grinned, "He did karate at the same dojo as you, but he was in the older group."

"Oh really? What's his name?"

"Ayumu."

"Ohh..."

Suddenly, Ichigo halted in his tracks.

"Wait a second did you say Ayumu!?"

"Uh, yes?"

"As in the Ayumu who wrote you that letter on the back of that photo you own?!"

Akane's eyes went wide with surprise.

"H-how did you...?"

"This morning I...well I accidentally stepped on the frame, and when I went to clean up that photo slipped out! I was wondering who that guy was!"

" _You_ broke that?!"

Ichigo flusteredly apologized, "Er, yeah...I'm really sorry! I didn't see it on the floor."

Akane sighed, "It's alright, it's replaceable. But, yeah, Ayumu is my cousin on my dad's side. His family lives in Kanazawa."

"So, that's it? He's just your cousin?"

"Well, yeah, what else would he be?"

"O-oh nothing," Ichigo tried to remain nonchalant. He wasn't ready to admit that he thought Ayumu was her secret boyfriend.

"You know, it's funny you actually remind me of him a lot in some ways," Akane noted.

"Really?"

"Yeah, like personality wise, you two are rather similar. Although he is a little more affectionate, he would kiss my cheek a lot. But his mom is French, and I think they just are that way in European countries. But, you two even think the same sometimes. Like, remember that one time when you said my hair reminds you of a beautiful rose?"

Ichigo blushed at the memory, "Ahh, don't remind me. That was such a dumb line."

"I thought it was sweet of you," Akane assured, "Anyway, it reminded me of something Ayumu would say. It's why he gave me that bouquet of roses in the picture you saw."

"Oh, I see."

Ichigo was relieved. What was he so worried about this whole time? Now he was starting to realize how ridiculous he had been, thinking Akane had some secret boyfriend. He got himself all worked up over nothing!

The two continued to chat about the past and past friendships on their way home.

It was nice to have that weight off his shoulders. But, it only placed emphasis on Ichigo's next task:

When and how was he going to admit his true feelings to Akane?


	10. Confess

Akane woke up happy it was another weekend. The whole week had been rather draining. It had been a major test week, and she had studied her butt off by taking an all nighter the day before. So, she was more than content that she finally could sleep in.

A bit groggy from sleeping in much more than she was used to, she rose from the couch, and headed for the kitchen.

However, when she walked over she was surprised not to be greeted by the usually rowdy Kurosaki family. The kitchen was completely barren, in fact the entire 1st floor was barren.

Curious, she walked over to the fridge and found a small note that read:

 _We all went out shopping! Help yourself to anything, Akane!" ~ Yuzu_

The red-head smiled at a little drawing of a cats waving at the bottom, each one made to look like the members of the family. She then prepared herself some toast and eggs.

 _Ichigo probably went with them,_ she thought to herself as she ate. She looked at the clock, _Woah, it's_ _already 12:30? I better shower now. Maybe I'll check on the house. Rennovations should be close to finished by now, plus mom and dad said they'd be back tomorrow._

Dumping her plate in the sink, she made her way back upstairs, grabbed a towel from the closet, and walked to the bathroom.

 _Huh, that's weird the door is closed, s_ he mused. But, assured that no one was home, she just came to the conclusion that someone had left it that way and walked in regardless.

A wave of steam and heat hit her as soon as she opened the door. She stopped dead in her tracks. Stepping out of the shower, his usually spiky orange hair flat and dripping wet, with nothing but a towel in his hands, which wasn't even fully wrapped around him - instead he was only holding it to his lower half as if he had just picked it up - was Ichigo.

He looked up and froze too.

The two stared at each other a moment, as if unsure if what they were seeing was real. Then, all at once, their faces turned scarlet.

"So-s-sorry!" Akane apologized and quickly slammed the door shut pretending she hadn't seen what she just saw.

After she had shut it, she turned around and leaned against the bathroom door her face wrought with embarrassment, and her heart beating rapidly.

Ichigo's muscular figure, his chest fully exposed, his perfectly sculpted abs on display, water sliding from his hair past his hips and his thighs and his legs, was boring into her mind. And, Akane was doing all that she could to not let it get to her. The saying 'all hot and bothered' seemed very relevant to her at the moment. She had just seen her crush...not only that but her _childhood friend_ , bare naked in front of her.

 _Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god,_ She buried her immensely red face in her hands. _Why me? Seriously, why me?!_ She sighed. How does she find herself in these situations?

She started as she felt the door begin to move behind her. Scrambling to her feet she came face to face with a, fortunately, fully clothed Ichigo. A towel was draped over his shoulder, and his face was as exceedingly red as her's was.

"I-I-I'm soooo sorry, Ichigo, I didn't think you were in there!" Akane apologized flusteredly.

"I-it's okay...uhm...you didn't...erm.."

"Huh?" She leaned in to understand what he was saying, because he was mumbling so quietly.

He avoided eye contact, her closeness making it even more difficult for him.

"You...you didn't see...t-t-too much right?" He looked away, trying to cover his blushing face with his hand.

Akane, although she did not think it possible, became even more flustered, "O-OH! Ah..uhm...n-n-no I didn't see...everything," She answered looking to the side.

"O-okay."

"Yeah."

"That's..uh good, I suppose," Ichigo nodded. He couldn't bear the embarassment much more.

"Y-you're really...erm...fit," Akane mentioned glancing, for a split second, at his chest.

"Th-thanks," He replied, "I-I...I gotta change," He added, and hurried into his room down the hall.

As soon as the door shut behind him he clutched his chest over the rapid pounding of his heart. He felt dizzy.

 _What now?! How can I face her after that?! I should have locked the door, what was I thinking? Oh god, what do I do?!_ He pressed a hand to his head.

Suddenly her comment from seconds before resurfaced, ' _Y-you're really...erm...fit'_ after she said that it took every bone in his body not to explode from embarassment. That little comment had made him, surprisingly, kind of happy.

* * *

 _You're REALLY FIT?! What was I thinking!? WHY DID I SAY THAT!? Oh god, I can't look at him ever again. I'm going to have to move to another school, maybe another city, or even another country! I'll have to go back to America! I should've just waited, why did I ignore the fact that the door was_ CLOSED?! Akane mourned her poor luck. _What'll I do when he comes out of his room?!_

 _I got it! I'll just go stay the night at someone else's house...wait but who's house could I-?_

Suddenly Akane heard her phone going off from downstairs. She hurried down to grab it and saw it was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Ah! Akane?" The red-head heard a very familiar, very perky voice on the other side.

"Orihime? How did you get my number?"

"I got it from Ichigo!"

Akane vaguely recalled giving it to him some time after they had reunited, "Oh I see! Well what's up?"

"Tatsuki and I were wondering if you wanted to come shopping with us today!"

"That sounds fun!" Akane smiled, then a thought crossed her mind, "Hey Orihime where do you live?"

"I live alone in an apartment in Karakura Town," She replied, "Why?"

"I have a major favor to ask..."

* * *

"Akane?" Ichigo had finally calmed down a bit and decided it was best to just man up and face Akane head on. But, she wasn't home anymore. Confused he grabbed his phone and called her.

It went straight to voicemail, he called again but it continued to happen. He then sent a text instead.

' _Akane, where are you?_ ' He texted.

Almost immediately his phone pinged with her reply. _Why didn't she pick up her phone, but she responded to my text?_

'I'm at Orihime's house. I'm going to spend the night so don't worry! I took all my stuff, my parents are returning tomorrow and renovations on the house are finished. So, I only need a place to stay one more night and Orihime offered. I didn't want to be bothersome anymore' Was her answer.

Ichigo sighed. He was somewhat relieved he wouldn't have to face her yet, but also a little saddened by the thought that she believed she was a burden.

He quickly typed his response, 'You're not a bother at all! But, if that's what you want, alright then. I'll see you at school.'

'Ok!'

* * *

Akane let out a heavy sigh, " Augh, I don't think I can face him tomorrow either."

"I can't believe you walked in on him in the shower," Orihime gasped, "The very thought is making me blush." Her cheeks were pink.

"I think it's hilarious!" Tatsuki laughed, "Ichigo always has been one to find himself in awkward situations like that. But, the fact that it was you, it makes it even better."

"Why's that?" Akane questioned.

"Isn't it obvious? Ichigo has a c-"

"Crippling fear of indecent exposure!" Orihime jumped in, realizing Tatsuki was about to say the C-R-U-S-H word, "He has a secret fear of any woman seeing him naked accidentally!"

"Really?!" Akane's eyes widened, naively believing the ridiculous lie.

"Uhmm, yep!" Orihime nodded.

"Oh no, that's even worse! I've probably traumatized him," Akane lamented.

"D-don't worry though! I'm sure he will get over it!" Orihime assured.

But Akane was unconvinced. _I'll never look at him again!_ she decided.

* * *

The next day at school was incredibly difficult, she hadn't realized how much time she spent with Ichigo until she made the decision to avoid him all day. Even if she had a class with him, she would enter as soon as class started and then immediately leave the room at the end. During lunch she found a nearly empty classroom and ate in there, and in the halls she would hide behind people anytime she saw that spikey orange hair nearby.

"Aughhh, avoiding people is really hard," Akane complained during lunch on her third day of completely evading Ichigo.

She was sitting with Orihime and Tatsuki today, who had found her hiding spot of the day behind the school and sat with her.

"He's starting to get worried you know," Orihime mentioned.

"Kind of irritated too," Tatsuki added.

Akane groaned with guilt, "I don't know what he'll say if he sees me! I don't even know if he'll say anything! I mean, this isn't like last time where we can both just forget about it, it's much more major."

"Last time?" Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

Akane blushed, realizing her mistake, "Uh, did I say that?"

"Yes, you did."

"Tell us!" Orihime pressed, "What happened?"

"W-well...I was in his room the one day, studying, and we were joking around and I tripped over and he...uhm...fell on top of me," Akane's face reddened at the memory. She had almost completely forgotten about it at this point, but it resurfaced like a bad dream.

"I thought that stuff only happened in shoujo manga!" Tatsuki exclaimed.

"Me too," Akane sighed.

"Akane!"

Akane started at the sound of her name being called, "Oh no it's Ichigo! I gotta go!" She gathered up her lunch and hurried away.

"Those two really need to hurry and confess otherwise I'm going to confess for them," Tatsuki huffed as she watched the red-head sprinting off.

"I'm surprised they haven't recognized that they feel the same way about each other yet," Orihime replied, "Everyone else knows!"

"Well, it did take them awhile to even realize _their own_ feelings. I guess they're both just naturally oblivious about these things."

Orihime nodded, "I suppose that's what makes them so perfect for each other."

* * *

Ichigo had been searching all day for that vibrant red hair, but he couldn't seem to find her no matter where he looked. The first day he understood, and didn't make too much of an effort to look for her. But after completely missing her the second day he was starting to get frustrated. Today he was determined to find her.

"Geez, where is that girl? Why is she still avoiding me?" He sighed exasperatedly. Lunch period was almost over.

"AKA-"

Suddenly something ran into him, knocking him on his butt. Whatever hit him and fallen with him as well. As he recovered from the shock, he realized that the thing was actually a person.

"Sorry! I didn't see you!" The person began, flusteredly.

Ichigo eyes widened as he realized who had fallen on top of him. She tossed her rose-red hair out of her face.

"Akane!"

 _Oh no!_ She lamented _Not this again!_ She immediately scrambled to her feet.

"Sorry! I gotta g-"

"Wait!" Ichigo grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. Her back hit his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her stomach so she couldn't escape again.

"I-Ichigo, I really have to-" She wiggled trying to get back up, but she couldn't release herself from his grip. Instead Ichigo had managed to pull her even closer to him. Akane felt the warmth from his body pressed against her back.

"Listen, I'm not upset about last time!" Ichigo suddenly shouted.

Akane stopped struggling. Her face was an incredible shade of red, and was glad she was facing away from him.

"Look, I gotta get to class so-" She tried again.

"Akane listen to me!"

Akane stopped. Students were starting to gather around the scene, whispering to each other, and the red-head tried to not look at any of them.

"I'm not upset about last time," He repeated exasperatedly, "It's no big deal, okay? So, will you stop avoiding me?!"

"Ichigo, I-" She tried.

"Please! These past days have been awful without you. Akane, I can't stand knowing that you are incapable of even looking at me. It's...it's..."

Akane heard the upset in his voice, his arms had loosened around her waist, and instead of running off, she scooted forward a bit and then turned around, leaning on her knees to face him. He was staring at the ground, a hurting look on his face, and Akane felt a pang of guilt.

"It's just...when I'm around you," He tried to go on, "Seeing you smile, and hearing your laugh, it's impossible for me to feel sad. But, when you are constantly running away from me, it makes me feel...I don't know...it makes me feel like you don't...want me? I don't know, it's just...," Ichigo searched for the right words, unsure of how to explain his feelings.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry. I didn't think I hurt you this much," Akane apologized softly, seeing how truly upset he was.

"Akane I..." Suddenly, he reached forward, gripped the girl's shoulders and stared straight into her eyes seriously.

"I love you," He stated.

Akane stiffened.

"W-what did you just say?" She stammered.

Once again taking her by utter surprise, Ichigo pressed his lips to hers. The crowd around them, which they had nearly forgotten about, exploded with cheers and wooting. One person shouted out a relieved "Finally!" It may have been Mizuiro.

Akane was so shocked she didn't know what to do, and just sat there wide eyed for a few minutes. But, as it began to process in her mind, she felt a rush of excitement and joy wash over her, and let herself sink into the kiss.

Ichigo could feel the energy surging through him as well, a combination of nervousness and excitement. Her lips tasted weirdly like vegetables and rice, but he could care less. Just the fact that he was kissing _Akane_ was enough to make him the happiest man on earth.

After the moment of feathery bliss passed, the two slowly separated.

"I love you," Ichigo repeated breathlessly.

"I love you too," Akane answered, not hesitating to reply this time.

* * *

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